What is to succeed in having been human, to succeed in having had a life? The worst of them measure your success only by your material accumulations. These things do not describe success.
Our current and normal way of looking at things is to see things upside down. Where we in our consciousness see blessing we are probably seeing curse. Where we see curse there is blessing. And in no other context is this true as particularly in the pursuit of wealth - and in wealth itself.
Why do we keep on deluding ourselves and taking ourselves away from that which is real and that which is present and precious to that which is illusory? Why do we only wait for death to come near before we say and do what is needed, and resolve what needs to be resolved?
The qasida that we sing most frequently "Aheemu wahdee" has really three operative stanzas in terms of instructions and its significance that spontaneously this has become the qasida that we sing most frequently because it really, it is a summary of our Path. In those three stanzas the whole of this endeavour is summed up.
The measure of a man's freedom is the degree to which he can stay courteous under provocation. Conversely, the extent of the man's slavehood and bondage is the degree to which he can be provoked.
We have two ways of using our attention. Is there any difference to the feeling in the statements, "He's looking at me" and "He's listening to me"? For most people there's a difference.
One can describe human endeavour and human effort from the point of view of avoiding suffering and pursuing contentment. It's imperative that we understand that most of the things that people do under the assumption that this will decrease or alleviate this suffering, actually have the opposite effect.
The taste that we ascribe to the world is the taste that we acquire. So if you ascribe to the world sweetness then you acquire sweetness and you are therefore sweet to the taste. If you ascribe to the world bitterness then you acquire bitterness and you are bitter to the taste. Eventually your body...
Shaykh Ebrahim explores one of Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib's qasidas - Fana Fillah (Annihilation in Allah). This is the qasida that has been closest to his heart from Shaykh ibn Al-Habib's diwan of poetry.
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