29. TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF ALLAH WILL GRANT US HAPPINESS IN THIS WORLD AND THE HEREAFTER
Nobody will have a better life in this world or the Hereafter than those who know Allah, Most High. He who knows Him enjoys the affable companionship of His Lord; so when receiving a bounty he knows who bestowed it, and if a bitter misfortune occurs, its taste becomes sweet in his mouth. If he asks His Lord for something and does not have it answered, his wish becomes consistent with what Allah decrees for him because he knows that is better for him and he trusts His good administration.
The description of such a person is that his heart (qalb) is always mindful of his Lord; he stands before Him and sees Him with the eye of certainty because the blessings of knowing Him disciplined his limbs when it flowed through them.
‘If I speak then I do not speak of anything other than You,
And if I am silent then it is You I am contemplating
If a person who knows his Lord is exposed to harm, he looks away from the cause and only sees the Creator of the cause. This is why he maintains a wonderful relation with Him.
If he is silent then he is thinking about performing His rights upon himself and if he speaks he says what pleases Him. His heart is never attached to a wife, children or anyone else; and he interacts with people physically [as his heart is devoted to Allah alone], but his soul is with the Owner of his soul.
Such a person has no concerns in this life and does not feel distressed when departing this world or feels loneliness in his grave, and he is safe from all troubles on the Day of Resurrection.
As for he who has no knowledge of his Lord, then he is always tripping. He is always stressed because of the trials he’s being tested with as he does not know the Tester. He feels bad when not achieving his goals because he does not know what is best for him.
He only feels company with people of his kind because he has no knowledge of his Lord. He fears his departure from this life because he neither has any provision to sustain him in his journey nor aware of the path he ought to embark.
Many are those among both scholars and ascetic whose knowledge about their Lord is equivalent to the knowledge of an idle layman has about his Lord!
And many are those among laypeople whose knowledge about their Lord is vaster than both, scholars and ascetics ever had despite their endeavours.
Adi of these are gifts and shares that Allah divided among His creation.
“That is the Grace of Allah which He bestows on whom He wills.” [al-Ma’idah (5):54]
(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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