18. LONELINESS IS MUCH BETTER THAN BEING IN THE COMPANY OF EVIL PEOPLE
In the olden times, if the heart of the seeker (murid) was darkened or inflicted with [spiritual] disease he would go visit some of the pious and righteous people to relinquish the darkness from his heart (qalb).
Today however, as the seeker enjoys an atom of sincerity he would run into the house of solitude and enjoys a light (nur) in his heart.
He becomes focused on his Hereafter and his affairs remain intact, but when he leaves seeking whoever is pointed at (as being righteous or knowledgeable), he finds them sitting with idle people and involved in their intelligent path that brings no benefit in seeing such a person who finds it easy to waste time in trivial topics and in despicable ways.
And so, the seeker returns with some darkness in his heart and distracted from focusing on his Hereafter and weakness (da’f) in his will; his heart becoming sick and spending many days until he man ages to rectify it and restore its original state.
It is very possible that he may not manage to do so due to the weakness of the murid, and so he falls into tribulation (fitnah) because he may be influenced by seeing a Shaykh who is known for his worship but then found to prefer idleness and worldly affairs too!
Today the seeker should reconsider the option of visiting pious people and opt for visiting the graveyards and being in the company of books that mention the virtues of the righteous people.
Seek assistance from Allah in directing to what pleases Him because if He wants, He will prepare you for what pleases Him.
(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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