Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera – Miserable Ends – Hikam 228
AI: Summary ©
The concept of dams and dams is discussed, with the speakers emphasizing the benefits of experience pleasure and permanent income. The challenges of losing a job or social media lead to negative consequences and the need to manage things in life. The dams are a place where people feel in their own well-being and are not beneficial for achieving happiness and success. The dams also present a neutral culture and can lead to chaos and fear.
AI: Summary ©
وَدَعْ عَنْكَ هُمُومَكَ لِمَا تَيَقَنْتَ مِنْ فِرَاقِهَا And
just take precaution against all of the different
concerns and occupations that you will need to
become engaged in and be forced to undertake.
Right?
How would you get rid of that?
How would you avoid that?
Just, لِمَا تَيَقَنْتَ مِنْ فِرَاقِهَا Because you have
absolute conviction that eventually something is going to
happen to it.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى سَيِّدِ الْمُرْسَلِينَ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ
وَبَارَكَ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ أَمَّا
بَعْد We continue with our series on Ibn
Ata'illah's Kitab al-Hikm, the Book of
Wisdom.
We are on page 139, which is wisdom
number 228.
Ibn Ata'illah al-Iskandari, may Allah have
mercy on him, he says, إِن رَغْبَتْكَ الْبِدَايَاتُ
زَهَدَتْكَ النِّهَايَاتُ إِن دَعَاكَ إِلَيْهَا ظَاهِرٌ نَهَاكَ عَنْهَا
بَاطِنٌ A
bit complex when you listen to it on
the outset.
However, a very, very clear discussion, very, very
clear understanding of what's going on here.
Ibn Atayla says that if beginnings make you
desirous, endings will make you abstinent.
What is that referring to?
If the beginning of it makes you desirous
and happy and joyful and excited, the ending
of it will make you abstinent, sorrowful, in
state of loss.
Then he says, if their exteriors invited you,
their interiors will hold you back.
If the outside of it has invited you
because it looked so wonderful, when you get
to the depth of it, you'll understand that
this is not very exciting and it's not
very good and it's a source of loss
for you.
The interiors will hold you back.
What is he speaking about?
He is speaking about the thing which we
are in right now.
It is the dunya that we're in, which
is a necessary place for us to be.
There's no way that we could have an
existence without being in the dunya.
Maybe the Hurul Ain, they're one of the
few creations that get to be alive but
not have to go through the dunya.
Along with the Wildan Mukhaladun, the angels, at
least those that depends on the Adam of
the angels whether you consider a part of
the dunya or not, probably not.
But we have to be part of this
dunya so it's a necessary journey that we
have to undertake and this is exactly what
he's talking about.
If the beginnings of this world make you
desirous and excited when you see all of
these things, the endings will make you abstinent.
When things wear out, when things die, when
we lose things, when people depart, when things
are lost, then eventually they give you a
lot of sorrow.
The exterior part of it, the inside of
it and all the turmoil and chaos and
difficulty and everything else that it begins, it
brings, then that is what will hold you
back.
That will then be like, why did I
indulge so much?
I should have indulged in something that would
have allowed me to have a more permanent
benefit.
So essentially saying that the dunya will never
give you permanent benefit, something which is pure
dunya.
But of course what we're looking to get
benefit from that is also in the dunya
but that is something that's related to the
hereafter.
So anything that is related purely to this
world until we die, until the end of
this world, that is what he's speaking about.
And anything that is in this dunya but
is linked to the hereafter, the reason it's
done, the reason it's attained, acquired, undertaken for
the sake of the hereafter, then although it's
part of the world, it will continue to
benefit you because you'll be able to take
it with you into the hereafter.
Whereas anything you do for this world only
stops when we leave or it stops even
before that.
For some people it stops even before that.
There's somebody who rules a country, rules a
people, 30 years of their life, 40 years
of their life, 50 years of their life
and then they're deposed and they die in
misery or they die in hiding or they
die fleeing.
Either way that's an extreme example.
So that's why our commentator says that any
kind of friendship, any kind of connection that
is not permanent, that's what this is talking
about.
This is talking about all of those pleasures
and all of those enjoyments and all of
those positions or achievements that don't last forever.
For example, if you are becoming respectable and
you want to gain respect because of the
wealth that you have or because of the
position that you hold or because of your
family background, because you come from a certain
place or anything else that is purely related
to the dunya, then right at the beginning
it's very enjoyable, it is sweet, it's fascinating
because your nafs enjoys it, it feels good,
it tastes good and the experience is good.
However, eventually it usually ends up at some
level or the other being very very bitter
because you lose that thing.
No longer the same kind of things continue,
no longer the same respect continues, you have
to keep on your feet to be on
there.
For some people who are social media, they
are heroes today, they are social media influences
today but now they just can't carry on.
It's too much work to carry on, to
keep feeding that same kind of obsession and
then after that you lose.
And ultimately if with nothing else then by
death, with death it'll be finished and there's
nothing that you can take with it.
There's nothing that you can take with it.
And in many cases it gets left behind
with just humiliation and a loss and that's
why the Prophet ﷺ said, It's so easy
to get a child to feed usually.
When you start nursing and breastfeeding the child
it's very easy.
It's much easier to get them to do
that than to wean them off.
Weaning them off takes a while, there's lots
of misery and crying, there's a lot of
upset at least in the child to get
them off, it takes a while.
But it's very easy to get them started
relatively speaking.
So he's saying that if you're going to
be encouraged by this kind of association and
closeness whose sweetness eventually disappears because remember everything
in this world eventually comes to an end,
gets old.
I mean these phones they come old every
year, new ones come out every year because
the last one is not good enough.
I mean it's once a year.
I mean they would try it twice a
year if they could but people are dumb
enough to buy it every year.
And I think they're not dumb enough to
buy it twice a year so that's why
they're not producing.
Otherwise they'd probably produce twice a year, just
add one megapixel on and give you the
next phone.
But essentially that's why it's just so silly,
it's just so silly and now we know
it's so silly.
But in the beginning it wasn't so silly
was it?
Now we realize because everything comes to an
end.
Everything comes to an end.
The great companies these were before, they don't
have that same luster anymore.
They can't keep innovating.
There's a limit.
That's why he's saying that the beginning is
very very sweet but then the bitterness of
the end will eventually cause you to drift
apart.
So if you're going to be deceived by
the apparent nature of its greenery and its
freshness and its vitality and its sleekness, then
consider that there's always at the end of
it something lost because if you buy a
beautiful phone and it breaks, how bad do
you feel especially when the screen cost you
200 pound a fix?
Before you could buy phones for less than
how much it cost you the screens.
In fact you could buy phones for the
price of a case, for a good case
today.
Where is it going?
That's not how much inflation has gone.
It's just riding on people's source of joy.
That's what it's riding on.
So then he says if what excites you
is when you get something new, then just
try to avoid, try to think of how
it's going to be when it finishes off.
So that will allow you to be more
tempered and particular in what you do.
That will allow you to be more particular
in what you do.
Just think of the end of it.
So then we weigh ourselves out, we measure
ourselves, we are particular about whether we really
want it or not, whether we really should
indulge or not.
So always think of the endings of something.
Abu Ali Al Thaqafi, Sheikh Abu Ali Al
Thaqafi Radiallahu Anhu says, Uffun wa uffin li
ashghali dunya idha aqbalat wa uffun min hasratiha
idha adbarat.
He says woe be to all of these
occupations of the dunya when they come at
you.
And also woe be to the loss of
it when they disappear.
He's understood so he's like both of it
is a difficulty, both of it is a
challenge.
So woe be to both of them.
That's why he says that the intelligent one
never relies on anything of this dunya.
Especially when it comes and he knows it's
a fitna, he knows it's just a temptation.
So he doesn't rely on it.
And he knows that when he's going to
lose it, like a position for example that
you really want or something or somebody you
really want is going to be a source
of great misery and loss for you.
That's why a poet says, wa man yahmadil
dunya li shay'in yasurruhu fasawfa la'amri
an qareebin yaloomuha.
Idha adbarat kaanat alal mar'i hasratan wa
in aqbalat kaanat kathiran humoomuha.
It's not easy.
For example you get a beautiful phone and
you spend huge amounts of money on it
and then the glass breaks and it drops.
You have to spend a huge amount of
money, that's a hasra.
Right?
Something else goes wrong maybe sometimes.
Then again you have to spend money on
it and you feel bad about it as
well.
So not to say you don't get anything,
you get something if you need it.
It's just part of the nature of the
world but just don't get so excited.
That's what it's saying.
Use things and be functional in life.
So he says, whoever praises the dunya because
of anything that excites him, by my life,
meaning he's swearing an oath, right?
He's saying they will very soon start criticizing
it.
When it disappears it's going to be a
source of loss for you.
But when it came it still brought a
lot of occupation for you.
You still have to manage it.
You still have to do lots for it.
Somebody I know, he brought a really nice
car.
He purchased a very, very nice car.
It's one of the most stolen cars.
He had to put two trackers in there.
He had to put a camera outside his
house to make sure that, you know, it's
wonderful to have the car but then look
at all of the people who move, all
of the concerns along with it that it
might be stolen, it might be stolen, right?
It might not be here tomorrow.
Somebody might scratch it.
Actually when I moved to London, back to
London in America, I had a relatively new
car but we had parking spaces and everything
in the area I lived in.
I go to London, I checked all the
cars, every single car I saw on the
street in Hackney at that time.
I haven't checked in Ilford here or I
haven't checked in this area at least.
Every car had a little scratch or something
and I said, what's the point?
What's the point of buying a new car?
It's going to get scratched and then you're
going to feel bad.
You buy a nice sleek new car and
then somebody, slight scratch, slight scratch and for
that you have to have the whole thing
painted sometimes.
What an effort.
I thought, forget it.
We'll just get a second hand car.
I mean to have a brand new car,
you need to have a nice garage, a
nice place to park.
You're scared to take it to places.
I was just in India and in India
the streets are small.
So the brother I'm with, he wants to
buy a Cadillac because he needs a large
car.
I said, please don't buy a Cadillac.
How are you going to drive in these
small streets?
Plus it's a status symbol.
Everybody knows that you've got lots of money
then.
I mean he's a functional guy.
He just wants it for that but I
said, no, that's the wrong car.
Get another car.
Ali karamallahu wajhah.
He wrote to Salman al-Farisi radiyallahu anhu
once to give him an example of what
he thought the dunya was.
Ali radiyallahu anhu has many, many, many statements
regarding the dunya.
He knew the dunya very, very well and
there's a number of statements that have been
attributed to him regarding his discourse with the
dunya.
So in this case he wrote to Salman
al-Farisi radiyallahu anhu and he says, mathal
al-dunya ka mathal al-hayya.
The dunya is like a snake.
Why?
Layyinun lamsuha.
You know snakes, they're very sleek, very smooth
snake skin if you get to, if you've
got the bravery to do that, you know
to feel the skin.
It's so smooth and sleek, right?
Qatilun summuha.
But it's poison is a killer, right?
That's how bad it is.
Fa a'adid an kulli ma yu'ajibuka
feeha.
So avoid anything that excites you of the
dunya.
Avoid anything meaning be tempered about it.
Avoid anything that excites you of the dunya.
Li qillati ma yashabuka.
Why should you not get so excited?
Because so less of it is going to
come with you and benefit you in the
hereafter.
That's if you do it for the dunya
then you're not going to be able to
do much of that, you're not going to
be able to benefit much because nothing is
going to come with you to the hereafter
to benefit you there when you're going to
need it.
Wa da'a anka humumaka lima tayaqanta min
firaqiha.
And just take precaution against all of the
different concerns and occupations that you will need
to become engaged in and be forced to
undertake, right?
How would you get rid of that?
How would you avoid that?
Just lima tayaqanta min firaqiha.
Because you have absolute conviction that eventually something's
going to happen to it.
So on one of the travels, somebody took
me to one of the best cloth shops
there.
And they showed me the cloth which is
merino wool.
Very fine merino wool.
I said, how much is it?
I got an understanding of it.
It's between 190 to 250 thread count.
Either 100% merino wool or 20%
silk or something else.
When you feed it, it's amazing.
A meter of it, you know how much?
A meter of it cost 200 pounds.
And I need five meters.
There were cheaper ones, they start from 20
pounds.
A meter to 100 to 200 pounds, depending
on the thread count.
And he's like, buy it.
I said, no.
You have to dry clean it.
Who's going to take it to a dry
cleaner?
The cloth itself will cost a thousand pounds
and then you get it sewn.
It's going to be a thousand pound jubba
that you wear when it's cold.
But then you have to take it to
the dry cleaners all the time.
And pay like what, 10, 15 pounds for
that?
I mean, it is a thousand pound jubba,
but it's just a hassle.
What's the point of all of that?
And then if something happens to it, that's
a thousand pound jubba gone.
Imagine somebody ends it with the wrong.
Yes, if you need it, you're going to
be in that kind of a climate.
You need it, bismillah, and you got the
money, then it's khalas, it's fine.
There's a lot of stuff in this dunya.
For those of you get excited about these
things.
For some people, this is their normal stuff.
They make so much money, it's their normal
stuff.
For them, it's okay.
But for the rest of us who don't
make that, the majority, it's an ultimate luxury.
You can have it if you need it,
but ultimately, what's the point of it?
You're then going to be concerned how somebody
looks after it, where it's kept place, and
so on and so forth, unless you just
don't care about anything.
It doesn't matter how much it is, you
just let it go to waste, and that's
just a bad idea.
So the dunya has scales.
The dunya has options for anybody.
If you really want to indulge in the
world, the dunya has options.
So don't get too excited.
If it's functional, you need it, bismillah, go
ahead and get it.
You just need to be able to justify
it.
Then he says, وَكُنْ أَسَرَّ مَا تَكُونَ فِيهَا
أَحْزَنَ مَا تَكُونُ مِنْهَا Be as happy as
you can in even the saddest moments.
Just do the best that you can of
this world and enjoy it to the best
of your ability.
فَإِنَّ صَاحِبَ الدُّنْيَا كُلَّمَا إِطْمَأَنَّ إِلَىٰ سُرُورِهَا أَشْخَصَ
إِلَىٰ مَكْرُوهِهَا Because the thing about the dunya
is that anytime you get too excited about
something of the dunya that's purely of this
dunya, eventually there's going to be some difficulty
that will come in there, and it will
bother you.
It will take you off your excitement.
It will disturb your life.
Another statement, this is all about criticizing the
dunya right now, right?
This whole discourse is about that, right?
Regardless, I mean the dunya, remember it's a
necessary place for us to be.
We can't go to jannah without the dunya,
right?
You have to come to this dunya to
get to jannah.
So it's a necessary place to be, just
telling us stay away from the bad of
it.
الدُّنْيَا أَحْلَامُ مَنَامٍ The dunya is the dreams
of a sleeping person.
That's what the dunya is when you get
excited about what you want and what you
don't want.
وَسُرُورُهَا ظِلُّ غَمَامٍ And yes, it has happiness
in there, but the happiness is just like
the shade of a cloud.
It's not like the shade of a building
where you know it's going to stay for
a certain amount, it's the shade of a
cloud that the cloud can disappear and the
shade is gone.
أَحْدَاثُهَا سِهَامٌ The various different incidents that take
place, they're like arrows fired at you.
وَفِتْنَطُهَا طَوَامٌ Meaning, it's various different temptations and
challenges, they're like waves that will start coming
at you.
May Allah protect us.
Sometimes a person has a challenge that comes
and you think you're just dealing with that
challenge and then another challenge comes out of
that.
And then another one and it just seems
like multiple challenges, one above the other and
you don't know where to go.
And may Allah protect us from any of
that kind of stuff happening.
وَسَمَهُ اللَّهُ بِالْوَحْشَةِ Allah has characterized it as
being a place of estrangement.
Not a place of comfort.
Yes, we do gain comfort, but it's not
the real comfort that we want.
You could get a lot more comfort if
you're connected to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
and still be in the world.
So even though there'll be difficulties, your heart
will be comfortable.
Just the physical body being comfortable because I've
got very soft garment on, wonderful clothing, wonderful
food to eat, that's not comfort.
That's outer comfort.
That's not really inner comfort where a person
is relaxed regarding of the situation.
Because we all go through troubles and difficulties.
So where does everything that we attain, where
does that take us?
What does that give us when we have
difficulty?
I'd rather be like the Awliya Allah, لَا
خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ They never fear
anything, whatever happens, even though it seems like
it's so difficult that what they're going through.
Then he says, وَقَرَنَهَا بِالْفَجَاءِ وَالدَّهْشَةِ Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala connected this world to various
different tragedies and astonishments.
So there's gonna be things that will happen
in the world that will astonish you, surprise
you, take you off your feet.
And there'll be calamities.
Then after that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
ordered the dunya, يَا دُنْيَا تَشَدَّدِي عَلَىٰ أَوْلِيَٰئِ
Be difficult on my friends.
Don't give them an easy ride.
Let them have difficulty.
But, تَوَسَّعِي عَلَىٰ أَعْدَائِ Open yourself up.
Expand yourself for my enemies.
Make it easier for them to get.
Because that's what they want.
Let them focus on that, let them enjoy
that.
But be difficult on my friends because I
don't want them to enjoy the dunya.
When they try to get something and then
there's difficulty, it makes them feel that, no,
I should be careful.
It's not really what I need.
Maybe I shouldn't have it.
Maybe I shouldn't pursue it.
Maybe I should just suffice and be satisfied
with what I have.
Then He says, فَمَن نَظَرَ الدُّنْيَا بِعَيْنِ الْإِنصَافِ
فَمَن نَظَرَ الدُّنْيَا بِعَيْنِ الْإِنصَافِ فَمَن نَظَرَ الدُّنْيَا
بِعَيْنِ الْإِنصَافِ Anybody who properly looks at the
dunya with an eye of justice, He'd be
then just, it'll be sufficient for him just
to see some of the basic characteristics of
the dunya as to the nature of the
world, the temporal nature of the world.
إِذَ ٱلَيْسَ فِيهَا شَيْءٌ مَحْمُودٌ There's nothing praiseworthy
in the dunya.
You say, no, there's lots of stuff praiseworthy,
but all of that praiseworthy stuff is related
to the hereafter.
There's nothing of just pure dunya that's not
related to the hereafter that is praiseworthy.
إِلَّا وَقَابَلَهُ شَيْءٌ مَذْمُونٌ In fact, what he's
saying is that this dunya is full of
contrasts.
Anything that you see that is going to
make you excited and happy and that is
praiseworthy, there's always going to be a contrast
of it, something that will juxtapose it that
is going to be undesirable.
So there's lots of contrasting emotions that you're
going to experience in your life because that
is what this dunya is about.
If you're happy one day, you might be
sad the next.
If you're excited one day, the next day
you're demoted.
For example, there's wealth, excites you, but your
wealth can disappear, you may lose all of
it.
You may be excited by your youth, vitality,
good looks, freshness of vigor, but then after
that, it's going to end up with evil
old age, it's going to end up with
a receding of that youthfulness and it's going
to set into senility.
Likewise, if you have good health, you could
become sick.
If you have excitement, you could become sad.
If you have honor, you could become degraded
and humiliated.
And of course, finally, out of all things,
if you have life, it will eventually end
with death.
That's the nature of everything in this world.
The macro level, the dunya is going to
end, so on a micro level, everything perishes.
That's why you have to keep changing these
microphones.
Nothing lasts forever.
It either gets rusted, it either gets slow,
it either gets used up, it either expires,
it either perishes, or it breaks.
Because ultimately, everything has to go from this
dunya.
That's why you don't feel bad when something
breaks.
That's the nature of the dunya.
Once you know that, when something breaks, okay,
it's broken.
Things don't have to break.
Meaning, not every day.
The commentary says that there was a very
righteous Wali of Allah, Sayyidi Qasim ibn Sabih,
from the tribe of Banu Sa'id.
Some of the leaders at that time wanted
to harm him.
So, he ran to a righteous person.
And what he was given was a poem.
Which gave him the lesson that he needed
to learn.
اِذَا مَا رَمَاكَ الدَّهْرُ يَوْمًا بِنَكْبَةٍ فَهَيِّئْ لَهُ
صَبْرًا وَوَسِّعْ لَهُ صَدْرًا لِأَنَّ التَّصَارِيفَ الزَّمَانِ كَثِيرَةٌ
فَيَوْمًا تَرَى عُسْرًا وَيَوْمًا تَرَى يُسْرًا This is
the nature of the world.
Somebody has encapsulated in this poetry, he says,
that whenever fate strikes up, whenever fate, predestination,
the time, strikes up on any day a
catastrophe for you, whenever a catastrophe comes at
you, then prepare for it patience.
From before you need to prepare for it
patience.
And also open your heart up to it.
Because the twists of time are many.
There's gonna be many many that will come.
And if you're gonna get really upset at
every setback, at every difficulty that comes, thinking,
God hates me.
Why me all the time?
There's people who misinterpret these things and it
makes it even worse than it is.
He said, no, open up your heart to
it.
These are something that twists of time will
occur all the time.
They're multiple.
فَيَوْمًا تَرَى عُسْرًا Because one day you're gonna
see a difficulty.
وَيَوْمًا تَرَى يُسْرًا On another day you'll see
ease.
إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا ثُمَّ إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ
يُسْرًا Both of these things are what's gonna
happen to you.
So that's a bit on a different tone
that prepare for the difficulties because they will
come, just do your best and get through
them.
So then he says that anybody who stays
and who gets excited by the apparent nature
of the dunya, then the internal aspect of
the dunya will say to him, إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ
غِرَّةٌ فَلَا تَغْتَرُ We're just the deception, do
not be deceived.
That is why he says in the next
half, he said that إِنْ دَعَاكَ إِلَيْهَا ظَاهِرٌ
نَهَاكَ عَنْهَا بَاطِنٌ If the exterior of the
dunya invited you, then the interior should hold
you back.
If it doesn't hold you back right now,
it will hold you back afterwards.
Meaning it will push you away afterwards when
you realize the difficulty of this.
And you know to be honest, there's a
lot of positions in this world that when
you get into it, then you find out
how messed up it is inside.
The more you get into it, then you
find out how corrupt it is.
The more you get into business, the more
you find out how corrupt you have to
get into it.
The more you get into any industry, unless
it's a pure industry, that's why even people
who get into Ya Allah!
I wish I don't have to say this
but even people who get into assisting in
a masjid, that is run for the sake
of the dunya.
The masjid is not the dunya.
But the people there, they don't have ikhlas
and sincerity, then it's a political quagmire that
a person has to get into.
He wants to do khidmah, but he sees
politics.
He sees problems.
He's supposed to be doing something for the
sake of Allah.
So even something like an organization that is
a dawah organization, but when we're doing it
for the dunya, though it has a dini
purpose, but we're doing it for the dunya,
Allah protect us.
Even that becomes problematic for everybody.
That's why he says that the dunya, and
this is a beautiful hadith in Sahih al
-Bukhari that explains this as well, that the
dunya looks so fresh and so sweet.
So you know in the past, this is
what the Prophet ﷺ said, because there was
no gadgets, there were no sleek gadgets.
That which you were excited by were clothing.
So he talked about wonderful shawls and sheets
and garments.
And he talked about beautiful crops.
So it's all so sweet and so fresh
and so green and so vigorous and it
excites you.
Mashallah, I've got this lush, this whole lush
orchard.
It belongs to me.
How much money, how much excitement I'm gonna
have.
And then he said, all of that just
eventually gets destroyed.
وَبَاطِنُهَا خَبِيثَةٌ مُرَّةٌۢ But eventually all of it
will become bitter and withered and soiled.
That's why the Prophet ﷺ said, الدُّنْيَا خَذِرَةٌۢ
حُلْوَةٌۢ The dunya is green, fresh, green and
sweet.
وَإِنَّ مِمَّا يُنبِطُ الرَّبِيءِ مَا يَقْتُلْ أَوْ يُلِمُ
حَبَطًۢ It's a bit of a complex narration.
But he says that among all of these
vibrant crops and green, fresh vegetation that the
spring brings to you, some of it will
be killers.
Not because of inherent nature of being poisonous
or something.
No.
But there's some animals, the hadith goes on
to explain that there's some animals they get
so excited by this that they just keep
eating.
After a whole drought or a whole dull
winter, there has not been much food.
Now, mashallah, there's just food all over the
place.
Lush grass, lush vegetation.
So, they start eating.
They don't take time to...
Literally, the hadith says they don't take time
to let it digest properly.
They just eat, eat, eat, stuff their stomachs
and that kills the animal.
There's some animals that are like that.
And then he says that there's other animals
that take what they need, they relax, they
go and do their thing, they go and
relieve themselves, they don't have indigestion, they actually
digest their food, they relieve themselves and they
come back to eat.
So, literally saying that that's how you should
be with the world rather than just trying
to indulge, indulge and stuff your stomach because
eventually that same dunya, that same beautiful food
that you stuffed your stomach with is gonna
cause you stomach problems.
That's what everything else does in this world.
It causes us problems.
There are some...
One of the wise sages, he stated a
resemblance.
He compared the dunya with seven things.
Number one, he said that dunya is like
very, very salty water which will just cause
you to drown.
Like the sea, it's just gonna cause you
to drown.
If you're in the middle of all of
this expanse of water and you need water,
there's no fresh water, that's gonna cause you
to drown, it's gonna kill you.
The too much salt.
It's not fresh water.
So, it can only harm you.
He says the dunya, if you treat it
that way, it's only gonna harm you, it
can't benefit you.
Again, these are just some extreme statements about
the dunya just to turn people away.
Otherwise, we need the dunya in the right
way.
So, don't get a misunderstanding that this is
like just completely condemning the dunya.
It's condemning a particular way that we look
at the dunya and what we end up
doing with it.
Then he says, so likewise, the dunya will
cause you just in the same way it
will cause you to drown in it.
Out of your love for it.
And then a person will die even though
they'll be thirsty.
They won't be able to get enough because
you're so thirsty for this dunya, nothing's gonna
fill your stomach with it.
You just want more and more and more
and more.
You don't know when to say no.
You don't know when to say stop.
You don't know when to say it's enough
even though it's enough.
The next one he says that it is
just like the shade of a cloud.
Not the shade of anything fixed but the
shade of a cloud.
It deceives you to think that you're in
a cloud.
You relax down there and then the cloud's
gone.
So then you have to move on again.
You have to get shade somewhere else.
In fact it humiliates you because when people
are watching that you've set yourself up there.
And then suddenly it's gone.
You have to move everything.
Ya Allah.
So, same way, the same way the dunya
is with you.
Then he said that the dunya is like
lightning.
It's like intense lightning in the way it
comes and goes so fast.
And then he added a number of other
ideas.
I'm not going to go in through all
of them but he says it's like a
dream.
It's like because when you wake up from
dream there's nothing.
So likewise the dunya you're going to indulge
in it and then when you wake up
in the hereafter there's going to be nothing.
When we're woken up from the dream of
this world.
Likewise he said it's like honey that is
mixed with poison.
It's poisonous honey.
So enjoyable you want it but then you
find out that it's very very harmful and
it kills you.
His nephew the person who who said this
his nephew says that I for a very
very long time I considered all of these
things and then I thought that there's one
more thing that I have to add to
it.
He said that I compare this dunya to
a ghost a ghoul that's what he said
literally that's what he said.
That anybody who goes after it it will
he will perish it will kill it.
And if you avoid it and you try
to stay away from any of these weird
things you're safe.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us some
understanding again the idea of this is not
to trash the dunya to such a level
that it has no benefit at all.
More so what it's really doing is our
obsession with it.
That's what's blameworthy it's the obsession with the
dunya.
The dunya is a neutral place.
The dunya has its good and bad but
it's a neutral place it's how we treat
it how we try to acquire it how
we indulge in it.
So may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow
us to satisfy ourself with the halal with
the beneficial and with what's worthy and healthy
of it and allow us to stay away
from any of the harms of it and
make us satisfied.
That's ultimately satisfaction and qana'a is the
most important thing in all of this regard.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless the
author.
So Sheikh Abdullah Gangohi who writes in the
commentary says Initially the pomp and pleasure of
the worldly kingdom appear magnificent and pleasing.
Those who possess such wealth appear honorable and
noble in the estimate of others.
Even their own egos bask in delight.
This initial pomp draws people into trying to
acquire the wealth of the world.
Ultimately however the result is that the owner
is either dismissed during his lifetime or is
separated from it by death.
When dismissed an ex-ruler will be overwhelmed
with grief.
You think that prime minister that was deposed
you think she doesn't have grief?
She doesn't have access to what she had
before?
And all these other guys that get deposed?
Right?
Allah protect us.
Allah protect us.
When such a person is separated from their
kingdom by death or by being deposed sorrow
will be their lot on account of their
oppression and denial of the rights of people.
The sorrow and regret will be their end.
It's not a good way to go when
thousands of people in fact millions of people
think you're an oppressor.
What kind of forgiveness are you going to
get on the day of judgment?
It is therefore this is regrettable this is
this regrettable end will disenchant him from his
worldly kingdom.
But by then it may be too late.
While the outer form of the worldly kingdom
is alluring with its ranks wealth and comforts
its inner reality diverts man from the invocation
of Allah Most High.
It is therefore absolutely disastrous for one's happiness
and success in the next world.
The ultimate fate of the worldly kingdom should
thus prevent one from hankering after it.
The intelligent man is farsighted.
He is not deceived by the external facade
of anything.
His sight is set on reality and the
ultimate result.
Be realistic essentially what he's saying.
Allahumma Anta As-Salamu Wa Aminka As-Salamu
Tabaraka Ya Zal Jalali Wa Al-Ikram Allahumma
Rabbana Antina Fi Al-Dunya Hasana Wa Fi
Al-Akhira Wa Fi Al-Hasana Wa Khina
Ataba Al-Nar Allahumma Ghfilana Wa Arhamna Wa
Aafina Wa Ahdina Wa Zuqna Allahumma Ahdina Wa
Ahdi Bina Wa Ja'alna Hu Dhaatan Wa
Mal-Ihtada Allahumma Al-Masiyan This Ummah Ya
Allah We ask you for your acceptance for
whatever little we can offer you.
Ya Allah This comes from you you have
accepted us to even be sitting here in
this masjid today to be doing this dhikr
Ya Allah We thank you for this Ya
Allah We praise you for this All praise
is due to you Ya Allah We can't
do enough shukr for whatever you have given
us Ya Allah Above that you have given
us Islam you have given us Iman Ya
Allah Give us Ihsan Ya Allah Give us
a good understanding of our faith Ya Allah
Give us Ilm Nafi Ya Allah Give us
Amal Salih Ya Allah Give us accepted actions
Ya Allah Ya Allah Allow us to see
through whatever is being placed in front of
us Ya Allah Protect us from the corruption
and the fasad and the difficulties of this
world Ya Allah Oh Allah Allow us to
get ourselves connected to those things which will
remain forever Oh Allah Oh Allah Allow us
to do whatever we do in a functional
and practical way Oh Allah Protect us from
being overindulgent Ya Allah Protect us from being
obsessive Ya Allah Protect us from all forms
of haram and from all forms of wrong
and blameworthy traits Oh Allah However tempting they
may seem however much they may attract us
Ya Allah Oh Allah Assist us in not
just for ourselves but assist us for all
those we are responsible for for our parents
Ya Allah for our family members for our
children and for our descendants until the day
of judgement Oh Allah We will pass by
through this world but Oh Allah whatever whatever
is associated with us Oh Allah make it
good Ya Allah Whatever we leave in this
world that is associated with us Oh Allah
make it praiseworthy and make it beneficial and
those things that we that we'll take with
us from this world Oh Allah make them
certainly praiseworthy and beneficial for us Ya Allah
Oh Allah do not allow us to suffer
from the loss Oh Allah do not allow
us to get excited by the vigor and
the freshness of things as we see them
allow us to understand what they are for
and what the purpose is and allow us
to use allow us to use them correctly
like Umar who said that you have given
us all of this wealth Ya Allah all
of this access to these resources Oh Allah
now allow us to fulfill their rights Oh
Allah do not allow us to fall within
any of its temptations and any of its
mischiefs Oh Allah Oh Allah assist our brothers
and sisters wherever they are in this world
especially those who are suffering who are suffering
Ya Allah who are suffering and continue to
suffer Oh Allah you have your own wisdom
about these things but Oh Allah show us
Ya Allah show us Ya Allah show us
some happiness with regards to these things and
Oh Allah allow them to get much better
than what they have lost Ya Allah Oh
Allah destroy all those who seek to destroy
us Oh Allah destroy all of those Oh
Allah destroy all of those who seek to
destroy us and allow their plots and their
ploys to come back into their faces Ya
Allah we believe that this is what's going
to happen Ya Allah allow this to happen
Ya Allah allow this to happen Oh Allah
give satisfaction and happiness to all of those
who are crying Oh Allah all those who
are miserable Ya Allah who have lost Ya
Allah Oh Allah grant them much better than
what they have lost and Oh Allah assist
us all in doing that which is practical
and beneficial and functional and useful Ya Allah
make us beneficial beings grant us good health
Oh Allah there is there are many widespread
Oh Allah evil diseases Ya Allah serious diseases
Oh Allah there's been an increase in these
Oh Allah protect us all from them from
all forms of debilitating disease Ya Allah grant
us Aafia those who are sick Oh Allah
remove their sickness grant them a cure grant
them grant them well-being Ya Allah those
who have died Oh Allah grant them a
high state Oh Allah from our loved ones
Oh Allah grant them forgiveness grant them a
blessing a raised status and Oh Allah closeness
to you in the hereafter grant us company
of your messenger Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in
the hereafter and closeness to his Sunnah in
this world Subhana Rabbika Rabbil Izzati Amma Yusifoon
Wa Salaamun Al-Mursaleen Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen The
point of a lecture is to encourage people
to act to get further an inspiration an
encouragement persuasion The next step is to actually
start learning seriously to read books to take
on a subject of Islam and to understand
all the subjects of Islam at least at
their basic level so that we can become
more aware of what our Deen wants from
us and that's why we started Rayyan courses
so that you can actually take organized lectures
on demand whenever you have free time especially
for example the Islamic essentials course that we
have on there the Islamic essentials certificate which
you take 20 short modules and at the
end of that Inshallah you will have gotten
the basics of most of the most important
topics in Islam and you'll feel a lot
more confident you don't have to leave lectures
behind you can continue to listen to lectures
but you need to have this more sustained
study as well Jazakallah Khair Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi
Wabarakatuh