Inspirational Reminders from Ibn Al-Qayyim

Nothing is impossible there, and love is not lost

“Get yourself out of this limited world of diseases to the wide world of the hereafter, which has what the eyes have never seen. Nothing is impossible there, and love is not lost. O you who sold yourself for the sake of something that will cause you suffering and pain, and which will also lose its beauty, you sold the most precious item for the cheapest price, as if you neither knew the value of the goods nor the meanness of the price. Wait until you come on the Day of mutual loss and gain and you will discover the injustice of this contract. “There is no God but Allah” is something that Allah is buying. Its price is Paradise, and the Messenger is its agent, and you will be pleased to part with a small part of this worldly life to obtain it. The part you lose is a small part of something that as a whole is not worth a mosquito’s wing.”

The divine decree related to the believer is always a bounty

The divine decree related to the believer is always a bounty, even if it is in the form of withholding (something that is desired), and it is a blessing, even if it appears to be a trial, and an affliction that has befallen him is in reality a cure, even though it appears to be a disease!

Unfortunately, due to the ignorance of the worshipper, and his transgressions, he does not consider anything to be a gift or a blessing or a cure unless he can enjoy it immediately, and it is in accordance with his nature. If he were only given a little bit of understanding, then he would have counted being withheld from as a blessing, and the sickness as a mercy, and he would relish the trouble that befalls him more than he relishes his ease, and he would enjoy poverty more than he enjoys richness, and he would be more thankful when he is blessed with little than when he is blessed with a lot.

Imam ibn al Qayyim rahimahullah :

Madarij al-Salikin 2/215-216

Not every wind is like the morning breeze

”O you who are turned away, O you who are deprived of meeting your loved ones, if you want to know how you stand before the King, then look at how you are spending your time and what work you are assigned to do. How many people stand at the door of the King, but no one enters except the one whom he cares for. Not every heart is fit to draw close, not every heart can be filled with love, not every wind is like the morning breeze.”

~ Ibn al Jawzi

5 Pillars of gratitude

“Gratitude is built upon five pillars:

Submissiveness to Allah from the one expressing gratitude;

lov ing Him for it;

acknowledging His favour;

praising Him for it;

and not utilizing it in a way that displeases Him”

~ Ibn al-Qayyim

No punishment greater

“The slave is not afflicted with a punishment greater than the hardening of the heart and being distant from Allah. For the Fire was created to melt the hardened heart. The most distant heart from Allah is the heart which is hardened. If the heart becomes hardened, the eye becomes dry.”

~ Ibn Al-Qayyim

And is not every single pain and suffering of this world and the next the result of a sin that we have committed? ~ Ibn al-Qayyim