the essence of generosity

"taking pains to remove the pains of others is the essence of generosity" -Abu Bakr RA

progress

"If you live through defeat, you're not defeated. If you are beaten but acquire wisdom, you have won. Lose yourself to improve yourself. Only when we shed all self-definition do we find out who we really are." "you must learn a new way to think before you can master a new way to be ." - Marianne Williamson

universal

"Whether one believes in a religion or not and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn't anyone who doesn't appreciate kindness and compassion." - 14th Dalai Lama

the mirror of hatred

"if you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesnt disturb us" - Herman Hesse "People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

full of faults

"We find fault with the world, while the faults lie in our own selves. The world is not full of fault, except that we are full of flaws. A wolf does not eat the flesh of another of its kind but we eat the flesh of each other knowingly We have worn the sheep's clothing to deceive the people but woe unto the wild animal if it strays by us! We have reduced religion to mere show and formalities and thus, we deceive those who look at us." -Imam Shafi (RA)

silence

"How rare it is to find a soul quiet enough to hear God speak" - Francois Fenelon

simplicity

"simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication" - Leonardo De Vinci

six obstacles

"Ibrahim bin Adham said to a man during Tawaf: ' You should know that you will not attain the rank of the righteous until you overcome six obstacles. The first is that you close the door of luxury and open the door of hardship. The second is that you close the door of arrogance and open the door of humility. The third is that you close the door of comfort and open the door of struggle. The fourth is that you close the door of sleep and open the door of night vigil. The fifth is that you close the door of excessive wealth and open the door of dignified poverty. The sixth is that you close the door of procastination and open teh door of preparation for death.' "

Sincerity

"The first stage of sincerity is that your private and public state are the same" -al-Ghazali facebook group

in good company

"Without doubt, whenever you sit with someone and are with him, you will take on his disposition. On whom have you been gazing that tightness should have come into you? If you look at green herbs and flowers, freshness will come. The sitting companion pulls you into his own world. That is why reciting the Quran purifies the heart, for you remember the prophets and their states. The form of the prophets comes together in your spirit and becomes its sitting companion.” - Shams-e-Tabrizi (RA) "Only take as your companions those who have these four qualities: generosity even when they have little, willingness to pardon an offense committed against them, patient endurance in times of affliction, and contentment with God's decree for them." -Shaykh Abul Hasan Shadili

reminder to myself to stop judging others

“Keep in mind constantly that any fault you see in another is either manifest in you explicitly or concealed like fire hidden in flint” – Imam Muhammad b. Nasir al-DarÏ in Prayer of the Oppressed.

5 THINGS THAT CORRUPT THE HEART

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: As for the five things that corrupt the heart, they are:

1. mixing too much with people

 2. wishful thinking

 3. Being attched to anything other than Allah

 4. Eating to one's fill

 5. Sleeping

drive out darkness

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

sincerely wanting to be sincere

"Sincerity is that all your deeds be for God, and that your heart be not gladdened by men's praise nor that you care about their censure." -Imam al-Ghazali (RA)

seeing clearly

" Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. " - , Antoine de Saint-Exupéry "Le Petit Prince"

willingness

Excerpts from Disciplining the Soul & Breaking The Two Desires by Ghazali "As long as worship and the renunciation of forbidden things are felt to be unpleasant and burdensome their performance will be defective, and cannot bring one to full felicity. Certainly the struggle to persevere with them is a good thing, but only in comparison with abandoning them, not in comparison of doing them willingly. "

The true nature of things

Whoever desires Paradise, proceeds towards goodness; whoever fears Hell, refrains from the impulses of passions; whoever believes firmly in death, detests worldy life; and whoever recognizes the wordly life, the trials and tribulations [of life] become slight for him. -Ali ibn Abu Talib (RA)

some Ibn al-Qayyim quotes

There is no joy for someone who has no sorrow. 
There is no pleasure for the one who has no patience.
No bliss for someone with no misery.
and no rest for the one with no fatigue.
When someone is a little tired, he has a long rest.
When he endures the difficulty of steadfastness for a time that leads him to eternal life.
All that the people of eternal bliss are in is steadfastness for a time
-Ibn al -Qayyim

 Yearning for Allah and His meeting is like the gentle breeze blowing upon the heart, extinguishing the blaze of the Dunya. Whosoever caused his heart to settle with his Lord shall be in a state, calm and tranquility and whosoever sent it amongst the people shall be disturbed and excessively perturbed. -Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah

 The heart becomes sick as the body becomes sick and its remedy is al-Tawbah and protection [from transgression] It becomes rusty as a mirror becomes rusty and its clarity is obtained by remembrance It becomes naked as the body becomes naked and its beautification is al-Taqwa It becomes hungry and thirsty as the body becomes hungry and its food and drink are knowledge love, dependence, repentance, and servitude. -Ibn al-Qayyim

one of my favorite quotes

i looked at all friends, and did not find a better friend than safeguarding the tongue. i thought about all dresses, but did not find a better dress than piety. I thought about all types of wealth, but did not find a better wealth than contentment in little. i thought about all types of good deeds, but did not find a better deed than offering good advice. i looked at all types of sustenance, but did not find a better sustenance than patience -Umar (RA)

on patience

The Prophet (SAWS) said in the sahih hadith: "Whoever abstains from asking others, Allah will make him contented, and whoever tries to make himself self-sufficient, Allah will make him self-sufficient. And whoever remains patient, Allah will make him patient. No one has ever been given a bestowal better and more extensive than patience." (Related by alBukhari (3/265)