“When a preacher does not act upon his own knowledge, what he preaches will fall off people’s hearts the way water falls off a rock.

“By the amount that you yourself benefit from the knowledge you have will others benefit by your knowledge.

“Whoever is watchful toward God’s boundaries will be under His watchful care and protection.

“Is there anyone who has achieved closeness to God and not found that with Him is everything that they need and desire?

“No one has attained [spiritual] success except by going against their ego’s desires, and no one has suffered [spiritual] failure except by preferring the worldly life over the afterlife.

“O one whose hopes are in the worldly life, your life has been wasted.

“Do not befriend one who knowingly rebels against God, for one who betrays his first Giver of blessings is not going to be loyal toward you.

“By the amount that you honor God, glory to Him, He will honor you, and by the amount that you magnify His greatness in your esteem and increase your respect for Him, He will magnify your status and the respect you receive.

“I reflected upon the envy that exists among the scholars, and saw that its source is the love of the worldly life, because the scholars of the afterlife engage in love and do not envy others. What separates the two groups is that the scholars of the worldly life seek power and leadership in it, and they love to accumulate wealth and praise, while the scholars of the afterlife live in seclusion from these things, they fear them and have mercy toward those who are being tested by them.

“[The one who follows the Quran and the Sunnah] will not live a life of suffering. This is illustrated by His saying, glory to Him: “Whosoever fears God, God will create for him a way out.” [The Quran, verse 65:2] If you see them suffer, then surely there is for them in recompense that which will turn any bitter drink into honey.

“Never busy yourself completely with worship, abandoning the seeking of knowledge.

“When true fear of God is realized in your heart, all good things will come to you.

“I never tire of reading books. If I see a book I have not seen before, it is as if I have found a treasure.

“The worldly life has been created as a place of testing. The wise person should fully habituate himself to patience.

“We have seen so many who wear coarse clothing, and show off their devotion to God, yet no one turns to them, and others who wear good clothing, and who smile, and the hearts love them.

“No one can claim to know Him except one who fears Him. The one who feels safe from Him does not know Him.

“Contentment is one of the fruits of spiritual knowledge. When you know Him, you will be content with His decrees.

“Perhaps God will cause something to befall someone that will disgrace them in front of the creation as a recompense for sins they have committed in private.

“The closeness of the believers to the Creator [in the afterlife] is by the degree of their heedfulness in the worldly life.

“When Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal decided to never again hope to be supported by people’s charity and gifts, his abilities increased, and his fame spread. While when Ibn al-Madini and others desired people’s charity and gifts, remembrance of them fell from people’s minds.

“Be very wary of the consequences of sins, and be very hasty in seeking to erase them by returning to God, because sins have evil and ugly consequences, whether they come quickly, or whether they accumulate and befall you all at once.

“The sins that are punished most quickly are the ones that are not due to overwhelming desire, but are an act of obstinacy and rebellion [against God].

“It is necessary for us to suffer good and bad. The good necessitates that we show thankfulness, and the bad that we supplicate. If our supplication is not answered, this means that it is intended that the test should finish, and for one to humbly submit to the decree.

This is where true faith shows itself. It is in submission and acceptance that the gems among men become apparent.

“I do not know of anyone who lived more exalted and enjoyable lives than the truly pious scholars.

“Whoever acts pious for the sake of the creation is in effect worshiping them, although he does not realize it.

“Showing enmity toward enemies is a show of weakness and fear. It is wiser to show kindness and courtesy toward enemies until this causes an end of their enmity, and if that does not happen, courtesy can be a cause for blocking any harm that may come from them, and among them will be those who will feel ashamed of the courtesy they are shown, and this will change their heart.

There were among the pious predecessors those who, when they heard someone had spoken of them in abusive terms, would send them presents.

“How few are those who purely dedicate their deeds to God, glory to Him! Most people like what is visible of their acts of worship. Sufyan al-Thawri used to say, “I have never relied on my visible good deeds [for my salvation in the hereafter].”

“I reflected upon myself and those of my extended family who spent their lives in acquiring wealth while I spent my childhood and youth seeking knowledge, and I saw that I have not been deprived of anything they have acquired.

“The ship of your lifetime is approaching the coast of the graveyard. What is the matter with you that you are busy inside the ship trying to acquire goods?

“O sinner! If you start to suffer punishment, do not make a clamor about it and say, “I have repented and regret my actions, so why is my punishment not going away?”, for perhaps your repentance has not come true yet.

“Mend what is between you and God in private, and He will mend for you your public matters. Do not be deceived by His covering of your sins, for perhaps He will eventually make them public, and do not be deceived by the respite He grants you, for perhaps His punishment may come at you suddenly when you do not expect it.

“There are those who venerate the creation, so that they do not respect their private time in the presence of God. By the amount that they engage in private sins, and by the degree of their sins, a bad scent spreads from them, so that [people's] hearts begin to dislike them.

“If you have the ability to pass all of the scholars and the ascetics by [in knowledge and virtue], then do so, for they were humans, and you are a human.

“The most beneficial people toward me have been those who acted by their knowledge, even if they were less knowledgeable than others.

“If pain encompasses a knower of God, he turns away from the apparent cause of it, and will not see other than its Sender. He is in the best of living with Him: When he is silent, he thinks of carrying out what is due to Him, when he speaks, he speaks that which pleases Him. His heart does not attach itself to a wife or child, and does not needily cling to the love of anyone. His body interacts with people, but his soul is with its Master.

“Glory to the Great King who is feared by anyone who knows Him, and Who, whenever someone feels secure from His ability to plan against him has not known Him. I thought about an important matter; that He, glory to Him, grants respite until it appears that He neglects, so that one sees the hands of doers of evil unrestrained as if there is nothing to stop them. When their evil deeds accumulate to a certain degree and they do not take heed, He fiercely seizes them and vanquishes them.