26. THE SOUND MIND (AL-AQL-AL-SALIM) IS IN THE SOUND BODY (AL-JISM AL-SALIM)
Knowledge (ma’rifa ) of Allah is only attained by people who are of perfect mind (kamil al-‘aql) and clear temperament (sahih al-m azaj). Rising to the love of Allah happens as such.
Some people have their minds weakened and their temperaments ruined, having poor nutrition that results in corrupted illusions {khayalat al-fasidah) coming to them—so they claim to love {mahabbab) and know Allah without having enough knowledge (ilm) to support their claims, and they were lost.
Know that some types of food {m a’kulat) corrupt the mind {ifsad al-‘aql) and other types increase the black bile component, leading to Melancholia; thus, so you find a person preferring solitude (khalwa) and fleeing from people. He may even consume less food that increases his illness causing him to have illusions {khayalat) that he regards as real.
Some of them say, “I have seen angels.” Some claim love and fondness of Allah without having any basis (asl) for that.
The one with knowledge and wisdom walks the path between the two: knowledge (ilm) and intellect {‘aql). If he reduces food intake, he does it wisely; the limit for such reduction is to forego excess food and its potent harms like bearing suspicion or a desire he fears getting used to.
Being extreme in reduction while being able to afford food has no basis in wisdom or in Shardah, except if poverty (faqr) was prevalent forcing him to do so.
Whoever looked carefully at the lives of the Messenger and his Companions {radiy Allahu ‘anhu) will find them being careful with what they consume, without ignoring the needs of their bodies.
How excellent is the statement of the Messenger, “A third [of one’s stomach is] for food, a third for drink and a third for breathing.”
He told ‘All Ibn Abi Talib {radiy Allahu ‘anhu) when he was sick, “Eat from this food, for it is more suitable for you than this.” He consulted doctors, performed cupping and encouraged seeking of treatments. He said, “Allah did not send down any disease except also sending down its cure, so seek treatment.”
Thereafter came people who were ignorant of the knowledge (ilm) and wisdom (hikmah) behind maintaining one’s body.
Some of them stayed in the mountains eating nuts, and came down with colitis. Some reduced their intake of food until their strength weakened. Yet others only ate the food of the desert and some only ate beans and barley. This behavior caused illness to appear in bodies that contributed to ruining the mind.
All of them share a lack of knowledge in general. Had they comprehended, they would have known that wisdom acts against this because the body is built on a set of substances, which lead to health when they are balanced and lead to illness when there is imbalance.
Many of such people fell ill and died at an early age, some of them got melancholia and others became delusional, claiming sightings of angels and other supernatural phenomena.
As for people of knowledge and wisdom, they withdraw from people out of fear of sin (k a w f al-m a’dsi) and being witness to calamities. Some of them had their knowledge increase, so they remained occupied by the knowledge and love of Allah from associating with people. They are the real solitary ones since their decisions stem from knowledge and wisdom, so they protect the body that acts as a vessel.
One should not be negligent with food, especially those who are not used to abstinence. And one should not wear wool on his body if he is not used to it. He should rather look at the way of the Messenger and his Companions (radiy Allahu ‘anhu), because they have the most excellent pattern of conduct. He should not pay attention to hearsay, for example when it is said, “Such-and-such was the ascetic who used to eat mud, and so-and-so used to walk barefoot, and such-and-such did not eat for a month.”
Because those who are devoted (mukhlis) to Allah Almighty are not on such paths, since the right path is to follow the Messenger, his Companions {radiy Allahu ‘anhu) and their pattern of conduct.
Some of them were satisfied with just milk, and they did not eat for days, but this was because of an emergent necessity, or because they were used to it just as the Bedouin is used to living primarily on milk and without being harmed by that.
The hadith states, “Give each body what it is used to.” 19 When an ascetic donated all of his fortune out of selflessness—and it is known that needs never end—so as his needs came, he had to seek (charity) and he was forced to take money from wrongdoers and give up his dignity.
The Companions (radiy Allahu ‘anhum) used to trade and save money, while the ignorant ascetics {juhhal al-mutazahidin ) believe that collecting money contradicts asceticism (zuhd).
To summarise this chapter, I say, ‘The wise must strive to preserve his body and not expose it to any harm; he does not give it food that does not suit it, he does not disperse his fortune and strives to invest it in order to avoid being in need, because no ascetic ever dissembled except for a worldly purpose. He should follow the lives of the perfect ones among the righteous predecessors and occupy himself with knowledge, for it is the ultimate proof.’
Subsequently he is enticed to be secluded with his Lord and occupied with His love, so that such relationship with Allah is a ripened fruit and not an abrupt one.
(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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