15. ALLAH PREVENTING A PERSON FROM CERTAIN THINGS MIGHT BE OUT OF LOVE
I pondered upon Shayban al-Rai’s saying to Sufyan: ‘Consider Abu Sufyan, Allah not giving you something, to be a form of granting you something. Verily Allah did not prevent you out of miserliness (bukhl); He did so out of love for you.’
I found these words to be those of someone who realised the truth.
A person may wish for a beautiful woman but is unable to have one. Perhaps this is better for him. Perhaps if he got such a woman his heart will become scattered with preserving her, or with gaining wealth to sustain her. If he becomes too attached to her, then his life will become wasted, and his focus on the Hereafter will turn into caring for them. And if she decides to abandon him, then this would become a tragedy. And if she dies then he will feel extremely sad. So he who wishes for a beautiful woman is asking for a knife to slaughter himself without knowing so.
Similarly, having less sustenance is a bounty in itself. Allah’s Messenger used to say, “O Allah! Make the sustenance of the family of Muhammad the bare minimum (that suffices).”
When sustenance becomes abundant then intentions will become scattered.
A wise person realises that this world is not meant for extravagance (tan’im), so he becomes content in all cases.
(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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