14. COMBINING KNOWLEDGE AND DEEDS IS DIFFICULT
Whoever is given a strong resolve (himma ‘aliya) suffers according to its strength, as the poet says:
If the spirits were high
the bodies suffer in pursuit of their goals
And as the other says:
Each body has a reason for decay
and mine stems from my strong resolve
One having a strong resolve pursues all types of sciences and does not confine himself to certain ones. He pursues each science to the extent that the body cannot bear. He then sees that deeds are equally desirable, so he strives in prayer in the night and fasting in the days; combining this with the pursuit of knowledge {‘ilm) is difficult {sab).
He then proceeds to abstinence while having necessary needs. He begins to enjoy selflessness and is unable to stand avarice; yet generosity requires spending and his dignity prevents him from earning from doubtful and degrading sources.
If generosity was his nature, he becomes economically challenged, and his body and family will see the effects of this. If he was to withhold, it would go against his nature.
Generally speaking, he must endure hardship while combining the opposites so that he is forever in an unending effort and unceasing exhaustion.
Additionally, if he accomplishes sincerity (ikhlas) in deeds {a mat), his tiredness and exhaustion will increase. How then can this be compared to one with a weak resolve? If he was a jurist and was asked about a hadith, he would respond, “I do not know,” and if he was a hadith scholar and was asked about an issue, he would respond, “1 do not know,” unconcerned that he may be labeled as ‘negligent’.
The one with a strong resolve sees any shortcoming in a science as scandalous, which reveals his flaws. Yet the one with a weak resolve is indifferent to people’s praise, does not shy away from asking them and is insensitive to rejection; unlike the strong-resolved one.
The strong-resolved one’s tiredness entails comfort, and the weak resolved one’s comfort entails discomfort and disparagement, if one were to understand.
Life is a race to the heights of virtues, so the strong-resolved must not slacken in his race. If he surpasses, then that is the goal, but if his horse stumbled despite his striving, he is not to blame.
(Source: al-Hafiz Abu’l-Faraj ibn al-jawzl [d. 597AH] “CAPTURED THOUGHTS being” a translation of his masterpiece ‘Sayd al-K hatir)
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