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2026-08-07 10:01:01 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #51
مَا مِنْ عَمَلٍ أَرْجَى لِلْقَبُولِ مِنْ عَمَلٍ يَغِيبُ عَنْكَ شُهُودُهُ، وَيُحْتَقَرُ عِنْدَكَ وُجُودُهُ
"No action is more likely to be accepted than that which you become absent from and whose presence you deem insignificant."
The surest sign that an act of worship has been accepted is that you forget it — you neither dwell on it nor magnify it in your own eyes. When the servant sees his action as great, ʿujb (self-conceit) creeps in and the deed is undone, for "Allah only accepts from the god-fearing" (5:27). Abū Sulaymān al-Dārānī said: "Every time I find an action of mine pleasing, I search it out for faults." Let the heart rest with the Lord, not with the deed.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-08-06 10:00:55 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #50
لَا صَغِيرَةَ إِذَا قَابَلَكَ عَدْلُهُ، وَلَا كَبِيرَةَ إِذَا وَاجَهَكَ فَضْلُهُ
"No sin is small if He shows you His justice, and no sin is big if He shows you His benevolence."
The weight of a deed is not measured by the deed itself, but by which divine attribute Allah turns toward the servant. When His Justice (ʿadl) faces someone, even small sins swell into mountains and good works dissolve. When His Grace (faḍl) faces someone, even great sins shrink into nothing. As Yaḥyā ibn Muʿādh said: if He measured us by His justice, no good deeds would remain; if His grace reached us, no bad deeds would remain. The servant's hope, then, is not in his own record but in the face Allah turns toward him.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-08-05 10:01:32 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #49
لَا يَعْظُمِ الذَّنْبُ عِنْدَكَ عَظَمَةً تَصُدُّكَ عَنْ حُسْنِ الظَّنِّ بِاللهِ تَعَالَى، فَإِنَّ مَنْ عَرَفَ رَبَّهُ اسْتَصْغَرَ فِي جَنْبِ كَرَمِهِ ذَنْبَهُ.
"Don't let a sin become so great in your eyes that it prevents you from expecting the best from Allah Most High. Whoever knows his Lord considers his sin small in relation to His generosity."
Reflection: There are two ways of regarding a sin as "great." The first is praiseworthy — seeing it as serious enough to move you to sincere repentance. The second is ruinous — letting it drive you to despair and think ill of Allah, a state worse than the sin itself, born of ignorance of His boundless generosity. The knower of God sees his sin as small only next to the vastness of Allah's karam, never small in itself.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-08-04 10:00:53 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #48
مِنْ عَلَامَاتِ مَوْتِ الْقَلْبِ عَدَمُ الْحُزْنِ عَلَى مَا فَاتَكَ مِنَ الْمُوَافَقَاتِ، وَتَرْكُ النَّدَمِ عَلَى مَا فَعَلْتَهُ مِنْ وُجُودِ الزَّلَّاتِ
"Among the signs of the heart's death is the absence of sadness over acts of obedience you have missed, and the absence of regret over the slips you have committed."
A living heart grieves at missed obedience and repents its lapses — these movements are its pulse. Their absence is not tranquility but death, for the believer reads his own actions as signs: joy at good, sorrow at evil. As the Prophet ﷺ told Zayd al-Khayr, loving the good and its people, yearning for it, is itself the sign that Allah wants good for you.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-08-03 10:01:07 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #47
لَا تَتْرُكِ الذِّكْرَ لِعَدَمِ حُضُورِكَ مَعَ اللهِ فِيهِ، لِأَنَّ غَفْلَتَكَ عَنْ وُجُودِ ذِكْرِهِ أَشَدُّ مِنْ غَفْلَتِكَ فِي وُجُودِ ذِكْرِهِ، فَعَسَى أَنْ يَرْفَعَكَ مِنْ ذِكْرٍ مَعَ وُجُودِ غَفْلَةٍ إِلَى ذِكْرٍ مَعَ وُجُودِ يَقَظَةٍ، وَمِنْ ذِكْرٍ مَعَ وُجُودِ يَقَظَةٍ إِلَى ذِكْرٍ مَعَ وُجُودِ حُضُورٍ، وَمِنْ ذِكْرٍ مَعَ وُجُودِ حُضُورٍ إِلَى ذِكْرٍ مَعَ وُجُودِ غَيْبَةٍ عَمَّا سِوَى الْمَذْكُورِ، ﴿وَمَا ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ بِعَزِيزٍ﴾.
"Do not abandon the remembrance of Allah because of your lack of presence with Him in it. For your heedlessness of His remembrance is worse than your heedlessness within His remembrance. It may be that He raises you from remembrance with heedlessness to remembrance with wakefulness, and from remembrance with wakefulness to remembrance with presence, and from remembrance with presence to remembrance in absence from all besides the Remembered. 'And that is not difficult for Allah.' [Qur'an 14:20]"
Reflection: Dhikr is the shortest path to Allah — never abandon it for lack of concentration. To skip remembrance entirely is a graver heedlessness than to remember while distracted. The tongue's remembrance is a ladder: Allah may lift the sincere seeker from mere words, to wakeful attention, to heartful presence, and finally to being absent from all but Him. Begin with what you can; He handles the rest.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-08-02 10:02:36 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #46
حُسْنُ الأَعْمَالِ نَتَائِجُ حُسْنِ الأَحْوَالِ، وَحُسْنُ الأَحْوَالِ مِنَ التَّحَقُّقِ فِي مَقَامَاتِ الإِنْزَالِ.
"Excellence in actions is a fruit of excellence in spiritual states. Further, excellence in spiritual states comes from becoming realized in the stations of the descending [Divine support]."
Right action is not the root but the fruit — it flows from a sound inner state, and a sound state itself is nourished by what Allah sends down upon the heart of knowledge and divine cognition. Al-Ghazālī pointed to the same chain: knowledge yields a state, and a state yields good action. So do not chase deeds while neglecting the heart that produces them; tend to the ground, and the branches will bear.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-08-01 10:00:53 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #45
مَا قَلَّ عَمَلٌ بَرَزَ مِنْ قَلْبٍ زَاهِدٍ، وَلَا كَثُرَ عَمَلٌ بَرَزَ مِنْ قَلْبٍ رَاغِبٍ
"No action from an abstinent heart is scarce, and no action from an avid heart is plenteous."
The worth of a deed is measured by the state of the heart, not its outward quantity. A few sincere acts from a heart detached from the world outweigh mountains of works performed by a heart entangled in worldly desire. The abstinent are shielded from riyāʾ and hidden motives, so their small deeds are multiplied and accepted. The attached, though outwardly busy, find their works hollowed out from within — as ʿAlī said, "Be more concerned about the acceptance of an action than about the action itself."
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-31 10:01:07 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #44
رُبَّمَا كَانَتِ الْحَالَةُ الرَّدِيئَةُ الَّتِي أَنْتَ فِيهَا خَيْرًا لَكَ مِنَ الْحَالَةِ الَّتِي تَسْتَشْرِفُ إِلَيْهَا.
"Perhaps your state is bad, yet appears good to you — because your companion is even worse than you."
Ibn ʿAbbād warns that this is among the gravest afflictions of the heart: to keep company with one whose spiritual state is beneath yours, and thereby find your own condition pleasing by comparison. Such false satisfaction gives birth to self-approval (al-riḍā ʿan al-nafs), which the Shaykh has already identified as the root of every evil. The remedy is honest companionship with those whose state elevates you and whose speech points you toward Allāh.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-30 10:01:25 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #43
لا تَصْحَبْ مَنْ لا يُنْهِضُكَ حَالُهُ، وَلا يَدُلُّكَ عَلَى اللهِ مَقَالُهُ.
"Do not accompany him whose state does not lift you, nor his words guide you to Allah."
Companionship (ṣuḥba) is a foundational principle of the spiritual path — the true benefit of a companion is twofold: that his very state elevates your aspiration toward Allah, and that his words point you back to Him. It is not required that he be perfect in every virtue; it suffices that his aspiration surpasses yours and his speech is more sound. Beware, though, of company that draws you into ostentation or a false front, for the sins of the heart are graver than the sins of the limbs. As the sages have said: a person's nature is quietly drawn from the nature of those around him.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-29 10:01:56 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #42
لَا تَرْحَلْ مِنْ كَوْنٍ إِلَى كَوْنٍ فَتَكُونَ كَحِمَارِ الرَّحَى؛ يَسِيرُ وَالْمَكَانُ الَّذِي ارْتَحَلَ إِلَيْهِ هُوَ الَّذِي ارْتَحَلَ عَنْهُ. وَلَٰكِنِ ارْحَلْ مِنَ الْأَكْوَانِ إِلَى الْمُكَوِّنِ، وَأَنَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ الْمُنْتَهَىٰ.
"Do not travel from one created thing to another lest you be like the donkey at the millstone: he journeys, yet the place he journeys to is the very place from which he came. Rather, travel from created things to the Creator — 'And to your Lord is the final destination.' (Qurʾān 53:42)"
To seek rewards, ranks, or spiritual stations is still to travel between created things — a subtle self-service dressed in sacred garb. The ego, though refined, still wants something for itself, and every "something" other than Him is merely another wall of the same mill. True hijra is not from one state to another but from all states to the One who states them into being. As the Prophet ﷺ said, the emigration is only ever to what one truly emigrated for.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-28 10:01:09 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #41
عَجَبًا لِمَنْ يَهْرُبُ مِمَّا لَا انْفِكَاكَ لَهُ عَنْهُ، وَيَطْلُبُ مَا لَا بَقَاءَ لَهُ مَعَهُ، إِنَّهَا لَا تَعْمَى الْأَبْصَارُ وَلَكِنْ تَعْمَى الْقُلُوبُ الَّتِي فِي الصُّدُورِ
"Astonishing indeed is the act of him who tries to run away from the One Who is always with him and instead seeks the company of those things which are bound to never remain with him: 'For it is not the eyes that go blind; rather, it is the hearts in the breasts which go blind.' [Qur'an 22:46]"
The servant flees his Master toward lusts and passing desires only because his heart has gone blind — he has traded the Everlasting for the perishing, the higher for the lower. Had true insight been present, he would have chosen as Pharaoh's magicians did, who, once their hearts were opened, spurned worldly honor and welcomed death rather than deny their Lord, declaring: "Allah is better and more lasting" (Qur'an 20:73). The wonder is not that vision fails — it is that the heart, meant for God, turns away from the only One who never departs.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-27 10:02:33 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #40
إِنْ لَمْ تُحْسِنْ ظَنَّكَ بِهِ لِأَجْلِ حُسْنِ وَصْفِهِ، فَحَسِّنْ ظَنَّكَ بِهِ لِوُجودِ مُعامَلَتِهِ مَعَكَ. فَهَلْ عَوَّدَكَ إلّا حَسَناً. وَهَلْ أَسْدى إلَيْكَ إلّا مِنَناً.
"If you don't expect the best from Him due to the excellence of His attribute, expect the best from Him by seeing how He deals with you. For has He accustomed you to anything but good, or has He bestowed upon you anything but favors?"
Ḥusn al-ẓann bi-Llāh — thinking well of Allah — is a station of certainty. The ʿārifūn hold it because they know His names and attributes; the rest are gently invited to hold it by simply looking back at their own lives. Has He ever fed you anything but kindness, or shown you anything but bounty? Even what you dislike is often better for you (Q 2:216), so let the constant flood of His favors outweigh the rare moment of trial.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-26 10:01:42 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #39
لا تَرْفَعَنَّ إلى غَيْرِهِ حاجَةً هُوَ مُوْرِدُها عَلَيْكَ. فَكَيْفَ يَرْفَعُ غَيْرُهُ ما كانَ هُوَ لَهُ واضِعاً. مَنْ لا يَسْتَطيعُ أنْ يَرْفَعَ حاجَةً عَنْ نَفْسِهِ فَكَيْفَ يَسْتَطيعُ أنْ يَكونَ لَها عَنْ غَيْرِهِ رافِعاً.
"Do not ask another to relieve a need that He Himself has placed over you. How shall another lift what He Himself has placed? And how can he who is unable to relieve his own needs relieve those of another?"
When Allah places you in need, none but He can lift it — for how can a created thing undo what the Creator has set? And how can one who cannot even relieve his own needs be counted on to relieve yours? Everything besides Allah is temporary and weak; only the Lasting and Beginningless bestows without ceasing. Turn your face to the One whose door is always open, whose kingdom is not diminished by giving.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-25 10:01:20 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #38
لَا يَكُنْ مَطْلَبُكَ سِوَاهُ، فَمَا يَتَعَدَّاكَ الآمَالُ الكَرِيمَ
"Do not let the object of your hopes be other than Him, since hopes do not pass the Most Generous by."
True spiritual ambition refuses to lower itself by seeking from any but the Most Generous — for in reality, none but Allah possesses perfect generosity. As al-Junayd said, "The generous one is he who frees you of the need to ask," and al-Ḥārith al-Muḥāsibī defined Him as "the one who does not care to whom he gives." When the door of the Most Generous stands open, why turn your hopes toward doors that must one day close? Aspire to Him alone, and He will make you independent of every intermediary.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-24 10:01:04 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #37
كَانَ اللهُ وَلَا شَيْءَ مَعَهُ، وَهُوَ الْآنَ عَلَى مَا عَلَيْهِ كَانَ.
"Allah existed and there was nothing with Him, and He is now as He has always been."
Time itself is a created veil, an imaginary frame with no reality of its own. Nothing stands beside the Real — the "now" and the "always" collapse before His overwhelming oneness. The universe is affirmed only through His affirming it, and effaced the moment the gaze turns fully toward Him. What you see with your eye, if the sight is true, is nothing but the trace of His.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-23 10:01:20 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #36
شُعاعُ البَصيرَةِ يُشْهِدُكَ قُرْبَهُ مِنْكَ. وَعَيْنُ البَصيرَةِ تُشْهِدُكَ عَدَمَكَ لِوُجودِهِ. وَحَقُّ البَصيرَةِ يُشْهِدُكَ وُجودَهُ، لا عَدَمَكَ وَلا وُجودَكَ.
"Beams of insight make you witness His closeness to you. Insight itself makes you witness your non-existence in front of His existence. Finally, the core of insight makes you witness only His existence, making you disregard your non-existence or your existence."
Three stations of the seer: the intellect glimpses the Divine nearness, knowledge dissolves the self before His reality, and the light of the Truth eclipses even the distinction between self and other. First the mind sees, then the heart forgets itself, then only He remains. Each stage is a deeper letting-go — until nothing witnesses but Him.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-22 10:02:45 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #35
أَصْلُ كُلِّ مَعْصِيَةٍ وَغَفْلَةٍ وَشَهْوَةٍ: الرِّضَا عَنِ النَّفْسِ، وَأَصْلُ كُلِّ طَاعَةٍ وَيَقَظَةٍ وَعِفَّةٍ: عَدَمُ الرِّضَا مِنْكَ عَنْهَا. وَلَأَنْ تَصْحَبَ جَاهِلًا لَا يَرْضَى عَنْ نَفْسِهِ خَيْرٌ لَكَ مِنْ أَنْ تَصْحَبَ عَالِمًا يَرْضَى عَنْ نَفْسِهِ. فَأَيُّ عِلْمٍ لِعَالِمٍ يَرْضَى عَنْ نَفْسِهِ؟ وَأَيُّ جَهْلٍ لِجَاهِلٍ لَا يَرْضَى عَنْ نَفْسِهِ؟
"The origin of every act of disobedience, spiritual unmindfulness, and lust is being pleased with the self. The origin of every act of obedience, spiritual wakefulness, and abstinence is not being pleased with the self. To keep the company of an unlearned person who is not pleased with himself is better for you than to keep the company of a learned person who is pleased with himself."
Reflection: Ibn ʿAbbād warns that self-satisfaction dims the sight — "the eye of contentment is dim-sighted concerning faults" — and lets base desires overrun the heart unnoticed. The one who suspects his own nafs stays awake, watchful over his thoughts, and abstinence follows. Hence Yūsuf's confession, *"I do not absolve my self"* (12:53), and Junayd's warning: don't find rest in your lower self even when it obeys you. A humble ignorant is a safer companion than a learned man in love with himself, because true knowledge that leaves no room for self-conceit is the only knowledge that saves.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-21 10:02:17 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #34
دَعْ عَنْكَ كُلَّ وَصْفٍ مِنْ أَوْصَافِكَ لَا يُطَابِقُ عُبُودِيَّتَكَ، لِتَكُونَ لِنِدَاءِ الْحَقِّ مُجِيبًا، وَمِنْ حَضْرَتِهِ قَرِيبًا
"Leave every trait of your human nature that contradicts your slavehood so that you may answer the call of the Truth [Most High] and be close to His presence."
Reflection: Ibn ʿAbbād distinguishes two theatres of the religious life — the outer, governed by fiqh, and the inner, tended by tasawwuf — and reminds us that the heart is the king whose soldiers are the limbs. Every blameworthy trait (pride, self-conceit, love of praise, envy, greed) traces back to a single root: the servant beholding himself as an existent thing pleasing in its own eyes. To be summoned near, one must lay these traits down. What remains — humility, reverence, contentment, mercy — is not something added to the self but the self restored to its true station of ʿubūdiyyah.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-20 10:00:56 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #33
اَلْحَقُّ لَيْسَ بِمَحْجُوبٍ عَنْكَ، وَإِنَّمَا الْمَحْجُوبُ أَنْتَ عَنِ النَّظَرِ إِلَيْهِ، إِذْ لَوْ حَجَبَهُ شَيْءٌ لَسَتَرَهُ مَا حَجَبَهُ، وَلَوْ كَانَ لَهُ سَاتِرٌ لَكَانَ لِوُجُودِهِ حَاصِرٌ، وَكُلُّ حَاصِرٍ لِشَيْءٍ فَهُوَ لَهُ قَاهِرٌ، وَهُوَ الْقَاهِرُ فَوْقَ عِبَادِهِ
"The Truth (Most High) is not veiled. Rather, it is you who is veiled from looking at Him. If anything veiled Him, it would cover Him up. If anything could act as a cover for Him, His existence would have a restrictor. But, everything that restricts another is in control of it while He is in control of all His servants."
Reflection: Ibn ʿAbbād shows the impossibility of any veil upon the Truth through a simple logical proof — for any veil would imply a container, and any container implies dominion over what it contains, which is inconceivable for the One who is Qāhir above all. The veil, then, lies entirely on our side, arising from the servant's intrinsic nothingness — for there is no meeting point between non-existence and pure Existence. Yet by His will, He lifts this veil from whom He wills, when He wills, granting a vision of the One "unto whom nothing is like" (42:11).
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-19 10:01:09 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #32
حِرْصُكَ عَلَى مَا بَطَنَ فِيكَ مِنَ الْعُيُوبِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ حِرْصِكَ عَلَى مَا حُجِبَ عَنْكَ مِنَ الْغُيُوبِ.
"Your eagerness to know the faults hidden within you is better for you than your eagerness to know the unseen world veiled from you."
Ibn ʿAbbād reminds the seeker that discovering one's own inner defects is the true right of Allah upon the servant — for such awareness purifies the heart and refines one's works. Citing al-Ghazālī, he lists four means of seeing one's faults: sitting with an insightful shaykh, keeping a truthful friend, listening to one's enemies, and observing flaws mirrored in others. The craving to unveil hidden mysteries or witness miracles is but a portion of the ego; the true disciple pursues istiqāma — steady uprightness in Islam — for the Master seeks constancy from His slave, while the nafs seeks wonders.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-18 10:02:28 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #31
اهْتَدى الرّاحِلونَ إلَيْهِ بِأَنْوارِ التَّوَجُّهِ، وَالواصِلونَ لَهُمْ أَنْوارُ المُواجَهَةِ. فَالأَوَّلونَ لِلأَنْوارِ، وَهؤلاءِ الأَنْوارُ لَهُمْ، لِأَنَّهُمْ لِلهِ لا لِشَيْءٍ دُونَهُ. ﴿قُلِ اللَّهُ ثُمَّ ذَرْهُمْ فِي خَوْضِهِمْ يَلْعَبُونَ﴾
"Those journeying to Him are guided by the lights of turning toward Him, while those who have arrived have the lights of direct encounter. The first belong to the lights; for the second, the lights belong to them — for they are for Allah, and for nothing besides Him. 'Say: Allah — then leave them in their vain discourse, playing.' [Qur'an 6:91]"
The traveler's lights (anwār al-tawajjuh) rise from his own striving — his worship, patience, and struggle — and he still needs them to reach the goal. The arrived one's lights (anwār al-muwājaha) descend upon him from Allah: nearness, intimacy, love. The first is owned by his lights because he depends on them; the second owns his because he needs nothing but Allah Himself. To witness anything other than Him is the "vain play" the verse dismisses — the reality of tawḥīd is to see Him alone.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-17 10:02:14 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #30
﴿لِيُنفِقْ ذُو سَعَةٍ مِّن سَعَتِهِ﴾ — الواصِلونَ إلَيْهِ.
﴿مَنْ قُدِرَ عَلَيْهِ رِزْقُهُ﴾ — السّائِرونَ إلَيْهِ.
"'Let him who has abundance spend out of his abundance' [Qur'an 65:7] — these are those who have arrived at Him. 'And whoever's provision is straitened, let him spend of what Allah has given him' — these are those still journeying to Him."
Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh draws on a single Qur'anic verse to distinguish two spiritual stations. Those who have arrived (al-wāṣilūn) have been released from the narrow confines of created things into the vastness of divine oneness — and so they spend freely from that expanse of knowledge and unveiling. The travelers (al-sāʾirūn), still bound by forms and appearances, can only spend from what has been measured out to them. Both are honored; both give what they have been given.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-16 10:01:59 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #29
شَتَّانَ بَيْنَ مَنْ يَسْتَدِلُّ بِهِ أَوْ يَسْتَدِلُّ عَلَيْهِ. اَلْمُسْتَدِلُّ بِهِ عَرَفَ الْحَقَّ لِأَهْلِهِ وَأَثْبَتَ الْأَمْرَ مِنْ وُجُودِ أَصْلِهِ، وَالْاِسْتِدْلَالُ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ عَدَمِ الْوُصُولِ إِلَيْهِ، وَإِلَّا فَمَتَى غَابَ حَتَّى يُسْتَدَلَّ عَلَيْهِ، وَمَتَى بَعُدَ حَتَّى تَكُونَ الْآثَارُ هِيَ الَّتِي تُوصِلُ إِلَيْهِ؟
"What a difference there is between him who uses Allah to prove [the existence of others] and him who uses [others] to prove Allah's existence. The former knows reality for Whom it is; so, he affirms the matter from its origin. The latter hasn't yet reached (knowledge of) Him. Otherwise, when was He absent that His existence needed to be proved and when was He far that others would be needed to reach Him?"
Ibn ʿAbbād contrasts two paths: the traveler who ascends through creation to reach the Creator, and the one drawn (majdhūb) whom Allah unveils Himself to directly — who then knows creation only through Him. The first uses the unknown to prove the Known, the non-existent to prove the Existent. But Allah was never absent to require proof, nor distant to require intermediaries. As the verse goes: "I am amazed at him who wants a witness for You, when it is You who have made him witness everything."
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-15 10:02:39 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #28
مَا أُودِعَ فِي غَيْبِ السَّرَائِرِ ظَهَرَ فِي شَهَادَةِ الظَّوَاهِرِ.
"What is deposited in the unseen of the innermost self appears in the visible witness of the outward."
The outward is a mirror of the inward: what fills the heart—whether nearness to Allāh or attachment to other-than-Him—inevitably shows through the limbs, manners, and bearing. Abū Ḥafṣ said, "Beautiful outward manners are signs of beautiful inward manners," and the Prophet ﷺ said, "If the heart of this one were humble, his limbs would be humble too." So do not deceive yourself: whoever claims love and knowledge of Allāh while none of its fruits appear on him is a claimant without proof. Watch the exterior—it testifies to the state of the interior.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-14 10:01:24 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #27
مَنْ أَشْرَقَتْ بِدَايَتُهُ أَشْرَقَتْ نِهَايَتُهُ
"Whoever's beginning shines, his ending also shines."
A luminous beginning is marked by turning to Allah in one's affairs and depending upon Him in trials. When the seeker orients his heart toward the Divine from the outset — with sincerity, reliance, and return — that same light illuminates the end of his path: nearness to Allah and arrival in His presence. The end mirrors the beginning; how one starts shapes where one arrives.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-12 10:01:28 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #25
مَا تَوَقَّفَ مَطْلَبٌ أَنْتَ طَالِبُهُ بِرَبِّكَ، وَلَا تَيَسَّرَ مَطْلَبٌ أَنْتَ طَالِبُهُ بِنَفْسِكَ.
"No aim is halted that you seek through your Lord, and no aim is made easy that you seek through yourself."
When you bring your needs to Allah in true reliance, you grasp the strongest cause — distant goals are drawn near and difficult matters are made light. But whoever leans on his own strength, cleverness, or striving is handed over to himself and left to his own weakness. This holds for every pursuit, but most of all for the path to Allah: the traveler who clings to his Lord finds the road opened, while the one who trusts his own effort finds every gate shut.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-11 10:01:50 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #24
لَا تَسْتَغْرِبْ وُقُوعَ الْأَكْدَارِ مَا دُمْتَ فِي هَذِهِ الدَّارِ، فَإِنَّهَا مَا أَبْرَزَتْ إِلَّا مَا هُوَ مُسْتَحِقٌّ وَصْفَهَا، وَوَاجِبٌ نَعْتَهَا.
"Do not find the occurrence of troubles strange as long as you are in this world, for it only manifests what is befitting of its description and essential to its nature."
Reflection: Allah appointed this world as an abode of trial, not of rest — troubles are not intrusions upon it but expressions of what it is. Ibn ʿAbbād reminds us that seeking ease here is like seeking safety in a house of snakes; even Junayd said he was unsurprised by hardship because the world's very nature is anxiety and sorrow. The believer's response is not shock but patience (ṣabr), contentment (riḍā), and submission to the divine decree — for patience is a mount that never stumbles, and after every hardship comes relief.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-10 10:02:02 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #23
لَا تَتَرَقَّبْ فُرُوغَكَ مِمَّا سِوَاهُ، فَإِنَّ ذَلِكَ يَقْطَعُكَ عَنْ وُجُودِ الْمُرَاقَبَةِ لَهُ فِيمَا هُوَ مُقِيمُكَ فِيهِ.
"Do not wait for freedom from your current condition, since that will prevent you from being mindful of Him where He has placed you."
Wherever Allah has placed you — in hardship or ease, sickness or health — that state carries rights and obligations meant for you now. Longing to escape it robs you of the very presence and mindfulness demanded of you in this moment. The sincere disciple, as Sahl said, finds rest only when he sees no time but the one he is in. Patience in what you dislike, gratitude in what you love — both require you to be fully here.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-09 10:02:03 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #22
مَا مِنْ نَفَسٍ تُبْدِيهِ إِلَّا وَلَهُ قَدَرٌ فِيكَ يُمْضِيهِ
"Not a breath you take, except He has a decree to pass over you."
Every breath is a vessel carrying a divine decree — a moment already inscribed with what Allah wills to enact through you. Your successive breaths are not your own; they are an amāna (trust) belonging to al-Ḥaqq, each one carrying rights owed to Him. When the servant truly realizes this, there is no room left for tadbīr (self-planning) or the chasing of desires — only presence with the One who breathes life through him.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-08 10:02:08 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #21
طَلَبُكَ مِنْهُ اتِّهَامٌ لَهُ، وَطَلَبُكَ لَهُ غَيْبَةٌ مِنْكَ عَنْهُ، وَطَلَبُكَ لِغَيْرِهِ لِقِلَّةِ حَيَائِكَ مِنْهُ، وَطَلَبُكَ مِنْ غَيْرِهِ لِوُجُودِ بُعْدِكَ عَنْهُ.
"Your asking Him is a charge against Him. Your asking for Him is [due to] your absence from Him. Your asking for other than Him is due to your lack of modesty in front of Him. Your asking from other than Him is due to being far from Him."
Ibn ʿAbbād unpacks four subtle defects in how the seeker asks: to demand from Allah implies distrust of His care; to seek Him presumes distance from His presence; to want anything besides Him betrays a lack of ḥayāʾ before Him; and to lean on any other reveals estrangement from Him. Yet asking is not itself blameworthy — when done in worship, in obedience to His command to call upon Him (Qur'an 40:60), and as an expression of the servant's essential poverty, it carries no fault. The lesson is not to abandon duʿāʾ, but to purify the heart behind it.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-07 10:02:53 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #20
مَا تَوَقَّفَتْ مَطَالِبُ السَّائِرِ إِلَيْهِ إِلَّا نَادَتْهَا هَوَاتِفُ الْحَقَائِقِ: مَا تَطْلُبُهُ أَمَامَكَ، وَلَا تَبَرَّجَتْ لَهُ ظَوَاهِرُ الْأَكْوَانِ إِلَّا نَادَتْهُ حَقَائِقُهَا: إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ فِتْنَةٌ فَلَا تَكْفُرْ
"The spiritual drive of the traveler does not will to stop with what is revealed to it except that the voices of higher reality call out to him, 'What you seek is still ahead of you.' Neither do created things show their beauty except that their realities call out to you, 'We are but a temptation, so disbelieve not.'"
On the path to Allah, unveilings and spiritual openings are gifts — not the destination. The moment aspiration tries to settle into any station, reality itself protests: keep going, what you seek lies further ahead. And when the outward beauty of the world dazzles the wayfarer, its inner truth whispers a warning from Sūrat al-Baqarah — we are only a trial, do not be deceived. True arrival begins where even the seeker's own will falls away.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-06 10:03:04 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #19
لَا تَطْلُبْ مِنْهُ أَنْ يُخْرِجَكَ مِنْ حَالَةٍ لِيَسْتَعْمِلَكَ فِيمَا سِوَاهَا، فَلَوْ أَرَادَكَ لَاسْتَعْمَلَكَ بِغَيْرِ إِخْرَاجٍ.
"Do not ask Him to take you out of a condition so that He uses you in another. If He wanted you, He would have used you without taking you out."
Reflection: Spiritual restlessness often masquerades as ambition — we imagine we'd serve God better in some other state, some other work, some other life. But if He willed to employ you there, He would do so without needing to relocate you. The present condition, as long as it does not violate the Sacred Law, is precisely where He has placed you; adab is to serve Him there rather than dictate the terms of your service.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-05 10:02:09 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #18
إِحَالَتُكَ الْأَعْمَالَ عَلَى وُجُودِ الْفَرَاغِ مِنْ رُعُونَاتِ النَّفْسِ.
"Your postponement of deeds until a time of free leisure is one of the frivolities of the ego."
To defer good works while awaiting a season of ease reveals three follies: preferring this world over the next, trusting a leisure that death may never grant, and quietly claiming self-sufficiency from Allah by leaning on one's own power. The soul must instead seize the present moment — whatever its condition — for aims never end but by other aims, and death often arrives before the awaited pause. True reliance is on Allah, not on tomorrow's imagined stillness.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-04 10:04:25 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #17
مَا تَرَكَ مِنَ الْجَهْلِ شَيْئًا، مَنْ أَرَادَ أَنْ يُحْدِثَ فِي الْوَقْتِ غَيْرَ مَا أَظْهَرَهُ اللهُ فِيهِ.
"Whoever wishes that something other than what Allah has brought about happen in the present time, has not left ignorance a bit."
To wish the present moment were other than what Allah has decreed is, at root, a failure to know Him — a quiet quarrel with the One who arranged the moment. The path of the servant is to keep the adab of whatever state Allah places him in, guarding its duties until He Himself changes it. Abū ʿUthmān said: "For forty years, Allah has neither kept me in a state I disliked, nor moved me to one I detested." Surrender to the ruling of the waqt — never as an excuse to abandon the Sharīʿah, but as the manners of ʿubūdiyyah.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-03 10:02:44 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #16
كَيْفَ يُتَصَوَّرُ أَنْ يَحْجُبَهُ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ الَّذِي أَظْهَرَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ؟ كَيْفَ يُتَصَوَّرُ أَنْ يَحْجُبَهُ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ الَّذِي ظَهَرَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ؟ كَيْفَ يُتَصَوَّرُ أَنْ يَحْجُبَهُ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ الظَّاهِرُ لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ؟ كَيْفَ يُتَصَوَّرُ أَنْ يَحْجُبَهُ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ الْوَاحِدُ الَّذِي لَيْسَ مَعَهُ شَيْءٌ؟ كَيْفَ يُتَصَوَّرُ أَنْ يَحْجُبَهُ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْكَ مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ؟ يَا عَجَبًا كَيْفَ يَظْهَرُ الْوُجُودُ فِي الْعَدَمِ؟ أَمْ كَيْفَ يَثْبُتُ الْحَادِثُ مَعَ مَنْ لَهُ وَصْفُ الْقِدَمِ؟
"How can it be conceived that anything could veil Him — when He is the One who manifested everything? How can anything veil Him when He appears through everything, and is more evident than everything? How can anything veil Him when He is the One alongside Whom is nothing else — and closer to you than everything? O wonder! How can existence appear in nothingness? Or how can the temporal stand alongside the One who is beyond time?"
The illusion of a veil between us and Allah is itself the veil. He is not hidden behind creation — creation is what makes His signs known, and He is more manifest than what He manifests. Nothingness cannot stand against existence, nor the created against the Eternal. The veil, then, is only in the eye of the one who looks — never in the One who is seen.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-02 10:02:35 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #15
مِنْ بَراهينِ قَهْرِهِ سُبْحانَهُ أَنْ حَجَبَكَ عَنْهُ بِما لَيْسَ بِمَوْجودٍ مَعَهُ
"Among what shows you His subjugation (glory be to Him) is that He veils you from Him with that which has no existence alongside Him."
Everything other than Allah is, in reality, nonexistent — yet He veils us from Himself by these very phantoms: our desires, our expectations, even our pursuit of spiritual stations. This is a proof of His overmastering power (qahr), for the veil is woven from nothing. If it were lifted, the servant would be annihilated (fanāʾ) from himself and subsist only with his Lord — first in seeing no doer but Him, then no attribute but His, then no being but His.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

2026-07-01 10:02:10 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #14
الأَكْوَانُ ظُلْمَةٌ، وَإِنَّمَا أَنَارَهَا ظُهُورُ الحَقِّ فِيهَا. فَمَنْ رَأَى الأَكْوَانَ وَلَمْ يَشْهَدْهُ فِيهَا أَوْ عِنْدَهَا أَوْ قَبْلَهَا أَوْ بَعْدَهَا فَقَدْ أَعْوَزَهُ وُجُودُ الأَنْوَارِ وَحُجِبَتْ عَنْهُ شُمُوسُ المَعَارِفِ بِسُحُبِ الآثَارِ.
"Created things are in essence darkness, only illuminated by the manifestation of the Real in them. Whoever sees created things and does not witness Him in them, or with them, or before them, or after them, is in need of light — and the suns of divine knowledge are screened from him by the clouds of created effects."
Ibn ʿAbbād explains that the universe, left to itself, is dark nonexistence — it only becomes illuminated by the light of al-Ḥaqq becoming manifest in it. People differ: some see only creation and are veiled from the Creator, while others are guided from effects to the Effector, or from the Effector to His effects. Yet he warns that these subtleties are where "many feet have slipped," and one must hold firmly to tanzīh: "There is nothing like Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing" (42:11).
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
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2026-06-30 10:02:53 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #13
كَيْفَ يُشْرِقُ قَلْبٌ صُوَرُ الأَكْوَانِ مُنْطَبِعَةٌ في مِرْآتِهِ؟ أَمْ كَيْفَ يَرْحَلُ إِلَى اللهِ وَهُوَ مُكَبَّلٌ بِشَهَوَاتِهِ؟ أَمْ كَيْفَ يَطْمَعُ أَنْ يَدْخُلَ حَضْرَةَ اللهِ وَهُوَ لَمْ يَتَطَهَّرْ مِنْ جَنَابَةِ غَفَلاَتِهِ؟ أَمْ كَيْفَ يَرْجُو أَنْ يَفْهَمَ دَقَائِقَ الأَسْرَارِ وَهُوَ لَمْ يَتُبْ مِنْ هَفَوَاتِهِ؟
"How shall divine light shine upon a heart whose mirror is stamped with the impressions of created things? Or how shall it travel to Allah while chained in its lusts? Or how shall it wish to enter the presence of Allah while uncleansed from the impurity of forgetfulness of Him? Or how shall it hope to understand subtle secrets while having not repented from its mistakes?"
Ibn ʿAbbād explains that these are four pairs of mutually exclusive opposites — light cannot coexist with the darkness of worldly attachment, nor can the journey to Allah proceed while the nafs runs free in its desires. The heart is likened to a mirror: when it is stamped with images of created things, it cannot reflect divine illumination. Purity from heedlessness and repentance from error are the preconditions for entering the Divine Presence and grasping its subtle secrets.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
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2026-06-29 10:02:36 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #12
مَا نَفَعَ القَلبَ شَيءٌ مِثلُ عُزْلَةٍ يَدْخُلُ بِهَا مَيْدَانَ فِكْرَةٍ.
"Nothing benefits the heart like a solitude through which it enters the field of contemplation."
Ibn ʿAbbād explains that mixing with people exposes the heart to backbiting, pretension, and hardness — diseases that erode certainty. True solitude is not mere isolation but a turning inward: guarding the tongue, the ears, and the gaze from what distracts. Yet withdrawal alone is incomplete — its fruit is only realized when the heart is occupied with tafakkur (contemplation), which the Prophet ﷺ praised as greater than years of worship. As Hasan al-Baṣrī said: "Contemplation is a mirror that shows you your good qualities from your bad ones."
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
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2026-06-28 10:02:10 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #11
اِدْفِنْ وُجُودَكَ فِي أَرْضِ الْخُمُولِ، فَمَا نَبَتَ مِمَّا لَمْ يُدْفَنْ لَا يَتِمُّ نِتَاجُهُ
"Bury yourself in the earth of being hidden, for what grows without being buried doesn't come to fruit."
Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī explains that nothing is more harmful to the spiritual seeker than popularity and the spread of his reputation. Love of prestige contradicts true servitude to Allah. Just as a seed must be buried in the earth to germinate and bear fruit, the disciple must embrace obscurity and hiddenness for his inner state to mature — the early masters, like Ibrāhīm ibn Adham and Fuḍayl, all insisted that sincerity demands indifference to people's notice.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
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2026-06-27 10:01:58 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #10
الأَعْمَالُ صُوَرٌ قَائِمَةٌ، وَأَرْوَاحُهَا وُجُودُ سِرِّ الإِخْلاَصِ فِيهَا
"Actions are but standing forms; their spirits are the presence of the secret of sincerity within them."
The commentary distinguishes two ranks of sincerity. For the righteous, sincerity means purifying one's deeds from showing off and self-interest — acting purely for Allah's promised reward. But the muqarrabūn (those drawn near) surpass even this: they no longer see themselves as the agents of their actions at all, witnessing only Allah as the mover of their stillness and motion. As one of the shaykhs said: "Correct your actions with sincerity, and correct your sincerity by giving up any claims to having any force or strength."
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
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2026-06-26 10:02:35 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #9
تَنَوَّعَتْ أَجْنَاسُ الأَعْمَالِ لِتَنَوُّعِ وَارِدَاتِ الأَحْوَالِ
"Actions vary in kind because sent spiritual inspirations vary in kind."
The commentary explains that wāridāt — divine inspirations that pass over the heart — produce different inward states: awe, affection, contraction (qabḍ), expansion (basṭ), and more. Since these inner receptions are varied, the outward actions they give rise to are naturally varied as well. The principle is clear: external deeds always follow from the internal states of the heart. Excellence in action is a fruit of excellence in spiritual reception.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
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2026-06-25 10:02:35 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #8
إِذَا فَتَحَ لَكَ وِجْهَةً مِنَ التَّعَرُّفِ فَلَا تُبَالِ مَعَهَا إِنْ قَلَّ عَمَلُكَ، فَإِنَّهُ مَا فَتَحَهَا لَكَ إِلَّا وَهُوَ يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَتَعَرَّفَ إِلَيْكَ. أَلَمْ تَعْلَمْ أَنَّ التَّعَرُّفَ هُوَ مُورِدُهُ عَلَيْكَ، وَالْأَعْمَالَ أَنْتَ مُهْدِيهَا إِلَيْهِ، وَأَيْنَ مَا تُهْدِيهِ إِلَيْهِ مِمَّا هُوَ مُورِدُهُ عَلَيْكَ؟
"When He opens for you a way of getting to know Him, do not mind if the quantity of your actions lessen in its presence. He only opened this way for you so that He may make Himself known to you. Do you not see that His making Himself known to you is something that issues from Him to you, while actions come from you to Him? And where is what you are sending to Him in relation to what He is sending to you?"
Ibn ʿAbbād explains that knowledge of Allah is the ultimate goal — the culmination of all hopes. When trials or circumstances reduce a servant's outward worship, this may be Allah's way of drawing him closer through a higher gift: direct experiential knowledge (maʿrifa). Our deeds, however plentiful, are fragile offerings that may be tainted by hidden flaws — but what He sends to us is pure bestowal. The servant who grasps this stops mourning lost actions and receives affliction as a vehicle of divine intimacy.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
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2026-06-24 10:02:22 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #7
لَا تَدَعْ إِجَابَةَ اللَّهِ لَكَ إِلَى مَا يَكُونُ فِيهِ خِيَارُكَ، فَلَعَلَّ الْإِبْطَاءَ عَلَيْكَ أَنْ يَكُونَ أَوْلَى، وَلَعَلَّ الْمُرَادَ أَنْ يَسْرُعَ بِكَ إِلَى مَا هُوَ أَشَدُّ فَتْكًا بِكَ.
"Do not let the delay of God's response drive you to seek what lies within your own choice. For perhaps the delay is better for you, and perhaps what is intended is to hasten you toward what would be more ruinous."
Ibn ʿAbbād explains that Allah never breaks His promise — if an answer is delayed, the servant must not let doubt erode his certainty. The delay itself may be pure mercy: what we want immediately may not be good for us, while what Allah withholds or redirects carries hidden wisdom. The one who remains calm and content with Allah's timing possesses sound insight and illuminated inner vision.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
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2026-06-23 10:02:49 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #6
لَا يُيْئِسَنَّكَ مِنَ الْإِجَابَةِ تَأَخُّرُ أَمَدِ الْعَطَاءِ مَعَ الْإِلْحَاحِ فِي الدُّعَاءِ، فَقَدْ ضَمِنَ لَكَ الْإِجَابَةَ فِيمَا يَخْتَارُهُ لَكَ لَا فِيمَا تَخْتَارُهُ لِنَفْسِكَ، وَفِي الْوَقْتِ الَّذِي يُرِيدُ لَا فِي الْوَقْتِ الَّذِي تُرِيدُ.
"Don't let the keeping back of something you are fervently asking for make you despair. He has guaranteed an answer to your prayers in those things He chooses for you, not in those things that you choose for yourself, and at the time He wants, not at the time you want."
The commentary reminds the servant that he is ignorant of what truly benefits him — he may love what harms him and hate what is good for him (cf. Qurʾān 2:216). Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Mursī, when ill and wished relief, cautioned that even the greatest — the Prophet ﷺ and the Rightly Guided Caliphs — endured hardship despite their prayers. The key is surrender: every duʿāʾ is answered, but sometimes the answer is the withholding itself, or a delay stored as reward for the Hereafter, when the servant will wish none of his prayers had been granted in this world.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
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2026-06-22 10:02:50 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #5
اجْتِهَادُكَ فِيمَا ضُمِنَ لَكَ، وَتَقْصِيرُكَ فِيمَا طُلِبَ مِنْكَ، دَلِيلٌ عَلَى انْطِمَاسِ الْبَصِيرَةِ مِنْكَ
"Your striving for what has already been guaranteed to you, and your negligence of what is demanded of you, are signs of the loss of your insight."
The commentators explain that what is "guaranteed" is our worldly provision — Allah has taken charge of it and freed us from anxious pursuit. What is "demanded" are the works of obedience and worship by which we draw near to Him. When a servant exhausts himself chasing what was already decreed while neglecting the duties actually placed upon him, it reveals a blindness of the heart — the inner eye that should be fixed on ultimate consequences has been veiled by inversion of priorities.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
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2026-06-21 10:03:53 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #4
أَرِحْ نَفْسَكَ مِنَ التَّدْبِيرِ، فَمَا قَامَ بِهِ غَيْرُكَ عَنْكَ لَا تَقُمْ بِهِ لِنَفْسِكَ
"Relieve yourself of planning. What Someone Else has undertaken for you, do not try to do for yourself."
The ego's compulsion to plan and control worldly outcomes is a drudgery we impose upon ourselves, when Allah has already taken charge of these affairs. Ibn ʿAbbād notes that most of what we decree for ourselves never materializes — leaving us with ruined expectations and wasted effort. Sīdī Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhilī said: "If you must plan, then plan not to engage in planning." This hikma strikes at the very foundation of the spiritual path: surrendering the illusion of control.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
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2026-06-20 10:03:41 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #3
سَوَابِقُ الْهِمَمِ لَا تَخْرِقُ أَسْوَارَ الْأَقْدَارِ
"Even the swiftest of spiritual wills cannot pierce the walls of destiny."
No matter how powerful one's himma (spiritual aspiration and resolve), it operates only by Allah's permission and cannot override what He has decreed. The friends of Allah may be granted such spiritual force as a gift, yet even these are merely outward causes with no intrinsic power—the true Actor is Allah alone. Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh places this wisdom before his discussion of tadbīr (egocentric planning) to drive home the point: if even the loftiest spiritual wills cannot breach predestination, how much less can our anxious scheming?
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
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2026-06-19 13:50:18 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #2
إِرَادَتُكَ التَّجْرِيدَ مَعَ إِقَامَةِ اللهِ إِيَّاكَ فِي الأَسْبَابِ مِنَ الشَّهْوَةِ الخَفِيَّةِ، وَإِرَادَتُكَ الأَسْبَابَ مَعَ إِقَامَةِ اللهِ إِيَّاكَ فِي التَّجْرِيدِ انْحِطَاطٌ عَنِ الهِمَّةِ العَلِيَّةِ
"Your wanting to leave worldly means while Allah is keeping you in them is due to a non-obvious lust. And your wanting to engage in worldly means while Allah is keeping you from them is a fall from high spiritual ambition."
Ibn ʿAbbād explains that if Allah has placed you in earning a livelihood, desiring to abandon it is a hidden lust — it opposes Allah's will and reflects a claim to a station you are not yet fit for. Conversely, if Allah has placed you in abstinence, wanting worldly means is a decline in spiritual ambition. The Shaykh counsels: remain where Allah has placed you until He Himself draws you out, as "the voraciously truthful do not come out of anything until the Truth takes charge of drawing them out."
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
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2026-06-19 13:46:56 UTC

2026-06-19 00:28:18 UTC

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #1
مِنْ عَلَامَاتِ الاعْتِمَادِ عَلَى الْعَمَلِ نُقْصَانُ الرَّجَاءِ عِنْدَ وُجُودِ الزَّلَلِ
"Among the signs of depending on actions is losing hope in the presence of a slip."
When you sin and feel crushed — when despair floods in because you fell short — that despair itself is the deeper problem. It means you were leaning on your own deeds rather than on Allah's mercy. The one who truly knows Allah doesn't swing between elation at obedience and collapse at sin. Your hope was never supposed to rest on your performance. It was supposed to rest on Him.
— Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī
#Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality