Al Hikam Ibn Ata Allah

7/30/2019 Al Hikam Ibn Ata Allah

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AI-Hikamof Ibn Atta'illah

English Translation & Arabic Text


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EDgUsh translation of selected wisdoms from A!-Hikam of Ibn AUa 'Wah

I. One of he signs of relying on one 's own deeds is the loss ofhope when adownfall occurs

2. Your striving for what has already been guaranteed to you, and your remissness inwhat is demanded of you, are signs of the blurring ofyour intellect3. lfin spite of intense supplication, there is delay in the timing of he Gift, letthatnot be the cause fur your despairing. For He has gnaranteed you a response inwhat He chooses for you, not in what you choose for yourself, and at the time Hedesires, not the time you desire4. Actions differ because the inspirations ofthe states of being differ5. Actions are lifeless fonDS, but the presence ofan inner reality of sincerity withinthem is what endows them with life-giving Spirit6. He who wishes that there appear, at a given moment, other tban what God hasmanifested in it, has not left ignorance behind at all!"7. Your postponement ofdeeds till the time when you are free is one of thefrivolities of the ego8. Do not request Him to get you out ofa state so as to make use ofyou in adifferent one; for, were He to desire so, He could make use of you as you are,witbout taking you out!9. So long as you are in this world, be not surprised at the existence of sorrows. For,truly, it manifests nothing but what is in keeping with its character or itsinevitable nature10. No search pursued with the help ofyour Lord remains at a s t a n d s t i l ~ but anysearch pursued by yourself will not be fruitfulII . Your being on the lookout for the vices hidden witbin you is better than yourbeing on the lookout for the invisible realities veiled from you12 . Among the attributes of your human nature, draw away from every one that is

incompatible with your servant hood, so that you may be responsive to the call ofGod and near His Presence.13. The source ofevery disobedience, indifference, and passion is self-satisfilction.The source of every obedience, vigilance, and virtue is dissatisfaction with one' sself. It is better for you to keep company with an ignorant man dissatisfied with


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himself than to keep company with a learned man satisfied with himself. Forwhat knowledge is there in a self-satisfied scholar? And what ignorance is therein an unlearned man dissatisfied with himself?14. Appeal to none but Him to relieve you ofa pressing need that He Himselfhasbrought upon you. For how can someone else remove what He has imposed?

And how can he who is unable to free himselfof a pressing need free someoneelse ofone?15. I f you have not improved your thinking ofHim because ofHis ineffable nature,improve it because ofHis treatment of you. For has He accustomed you toanything but what is good? And has He conferred upon you anytbing but Hisfavors?16. How astonishing is he who flees from what is inescapable and searches for whatis evanescent! "For surely it is not the eyes that are blind, but blind are the heartswhich are in the breasts." .17 . Do not keep company with anyone whose state does not inspire you and whosespeech does not lead you to God18. You might be in a bad state; then, associating with one who is in a worse state,you see virtue in yourself19. Do not abandon the Invocation because you do not feel the Presence ofGodtherein. For your forgetfulness of the Invocation ofHim is worse than yourforgetfulness in the Invocation ofHim. Perhaps He will take you from an

Invocation with forgetfulness to one with vigilance, and from one with vigilanceto one with the Presence ofGod, and from one with the Presence ofGod to onewherein everything but the invoked is absent. "And that is not difficult for God."20. A sign of the heart's death is the absence of sadness over the acts ofobedienceyou have neglected and the ahandonment of regret over the mistakes you havemade21. Let no sin reach such proportions in your eyes that it cuts you off from having agood opinion ofGod, for, indeed, whoever knows his Lord considers his sin aspaltry next to his generosity22. Let not obedience make you joyous because it comes from you; but rather, bejoyous over it because it comes from God to you. "Say: In the grace ofGod andin His mercy, in that they should rejoice. It is better than that which they hoard."23. In your despairing, you are a free man; but in your coveting, you are a slave


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24. Be fearful lest the existence ofHis generosity toward you and the persistence ofyour bad behavior toward Him not lead you step by step to ruin. "We shall leadthem to ruin step by step from whence they know not."

25 . Infer the presence of ignorance in anyone whom you see answering all that he isasked or giving expression to all that he witnesses or mentioning all that heknows.26. He made the Hereafter an abode to reward his believing servants only becausethis world cannot contain what He wishes to bestow upon them and because Hedeemed their worth too high to reward them in a world without permanence27 . If you want to know your standing with Him, look at the state He has put you innow28. When He gives you obedience, making you unaware ofit because ofHim, thenknow that He has showered you liberally with His graces both inwardly andoutwardly29. The best that you can seek from Him is that which He seeks from you30. One of he signs of delusion is sadness over the loss ofobedience coupled with anabsence of resolve to bring it back to life31. Hope goes hand in hand with deeds; otherwise, it is just wishful thinking32. Sometimes He gives while depriving you, and sometimes He deprives you ingiving33. When he opens up your understanding ofdeprivation, deprivation becomes thesame as giving34. If you want a glory that does not vanish, then do not glory in a glory that vanishes35. A gift from man is deprivation; but deprivation from God is beneficence36. Whoever worships Him for something he hopes for from Him, or in order to staveoff the arrival of chastisement, has not concerned himself with the true nature ofHis Attributes37 . When He gives, He shows you His kindness; when He deprives, He shows youHis power; and in all that, He is making Himselfknown to you and coming to youwith His gentleness38. Deprivation hurts you only because of your incomprehension of God in it


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39. Sometimes He opens the door ofobedience for you, but not the door ofacceptance; or sometimes He condemns you to sin, and it turns out to be a causefor union with God

40. A disobedience that bequeaths humiliation and extreme need is better than anobedience that bequeaths self-infatuation and pride41. Do not press claims against your Lord because your request has been delayed;instead, press claims against yourselffor slackening in your behavior42. When the forgetful man gets up in the morning, he reflects on what he is going todo, whereas the intelligent man sees what God is doing with him43. No one is a friend ofyours except the one who, while knowing your defects, isyour companion, and that is only your generous Master. The best one to have as afriend is He who does not seek you out for the sake of something coming from

you to Him44. People praise you for what they suppose is in you; but you must blame your soulfor what you know is in it45. When the heliever is praised, he is ashamed before God that he should be laudedfor an attribute he does not see in himself46. The most ignorant of all people is the one who abandons the certitude he has foran opinion people have47. In order that your sadness over anything be little, let your joy over it be little48. He who attributes humility to himself is really proud, for humility arises only out

ofa loftiness; so, when you attribute humility to yourself; then you are proud


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Al Hikam Ibn Ata Allah

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