The Principles of Sufism. 'A'ishah al-Ba'uniyyah

Dharr, may God be pleased with him, related that the Emissary of God, God bless and cherish him, said, “One who does good for the rest of his life, God forgives him for what has passed, but one who does evil for the rest of his life, God will hold him to account for what has passed and for what is yet to come.” This is reported by al-Ṭabarānī with an excellent chain of authorities. ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir, may God be pleased with him, related that the Emissary of God, God bless and cherish him, said, “The person who does bad deeds and then does good deeds is like a man wearing a tight coat of chain mail that is suffocating him. When he does something good, a link loosens. Then he does another good deed, and another link loosens, and so on until he can step out free into the world.” This is reported by the Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. Abū Dharr and Muʿādh ibn Jabal, may God be pleased with them both, related that the Prophet, God bless and cherish him, said, “Fear God as much as you can and follow a bad action with a good deed, and treat people with kindness.” This is reported by al-Tirmidhī, al-Ḥākim, and al-Bayhaqī.

      1.8

      عن أَنس رضي الله عنه عن رسول الله صلّى الله عليه وسلّم قال: ألا أُنَبِّئُكم بدائكم من دوائكم؟ قلنا: بَلَى يا رسول الله. قال: فإنّ داءكم الذنوب ودواؤكم الاستغفار. وقال صلّى الله عليه وسلّم: المُستَغفِر باللسان والمصِرّ على الذنوب كالمستهزِئ بربّه. إلى غير ذلك من الأحاديث الشريفة وفي ما أوردناه كفاية لمن وفّقه الله.

      Anas, may God be pleased with him, related that the Prophet, God bless and cherish him, said, “‘Shall I tell you about your disease and your cure?’ ‘Yes, Emissary of God!’ we said, and he replied, ‘Your disease is sin, and your cure is seeking forgiveness.’” The Prophet, may God bless and cherish him, also said, “One who seeks forgiveness with his tongue while persisting in his sin is like one who mocks his Lord!” There are similar things in the noble hadiths, but we have related what should suffice one whom God has blessed with success.

      1.9

      وأمّا كلام السلف في التوبة فكثير. منه قال فُضَيل بن عِياض: استغفار الله بلا إقلاع توبة الكذّابين. وقال يَحيَى بن مُعاذ الرازيّ: إن لم تؤمن باليوم الآخر فأنت منافق وإنْ أصرَرتَ على الذنب فأنت خاسر. وكانت رابِعَة العَدَوِيَّة رضي الله عنها تقول: استغفارنا يحتاج إلى استغفار كبير. وقال أُبَيُّ بن كَعْب رضي الله عنه: يقول الله تبارك وتعالى: لا أُحِبّ أن يموت خاطئ بخطيئته ولا جارم بجُرمه ولكن يجيء فيتوب جَنّتي عريضة ورحمتي واسعة ويديّ باسطة وأنا أرحم الراحمين. قال لقمان لابنه: لا تُؤخِّر التوبة فإنَّ الموت يأتي بَغْتَةً. وقال طَلْقُ بن حَبِيب: إنّ حقوق الله أعظم من أنْ يقوم بها العباد ولكن أصبحوا تائبين وأمسوا تائبين.

      There are many statements on repentance by the pious forbearers. Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ said, “To seek forgiveness of God without desisting from sin is the repentance of the impostors!”¹² Yaḥyā ibn Muʿādh al-Rāzī said, “If you do not believe in the Last Day, you are a hypocrite, and if you persist in sin, you are lost!” Rābiʿah al-ʿAdawiyyah, may God be pleased with her, used to say, “Our seeking forgiveness requires asking for it time and time again!”¹³ Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, may God be pleased with him, said, “God, may He be praised and exalted, has said, ‘I do not like it when a wrongdoer dies with his wrong, or a criminal with his crime. But, if one turns to Me and repents, My Garden is vast, My mercy broad, and My hands are open wide, for I am the most merciful of those who give mercy!’” Luqmān said to his son, “Do not put off repentance, for death comes suddenly.”¹⁴ Ṭalq ibn Ḥabīb said, “Truly, what is due to God is beyond what servants can offer, so turn for forgiveness in the morning and evening.”¹⁵

      1.10

      و قال إبراهيم التَيِّمِيّ: مَثَّلتُ نفسي في الجنّة كأنّي أَكَلْتُ من طعامها وعانقتُ أزواجها ومثّلتُ نفسي كأنّي في النار أكلْتُ من زقّومها وعالجْتُ أغلالها فقُلتُ لنفسي: ما تشتهي؟ قالت: أَرْجِع إلى الدنيا فَأتُوب. قلتُ: فمن مثلكِ إذا أعطيتِ سؤلكِ؟ قُومي الآن وتُوبي. وقال عُمر بن الخَطّاب رضي الله عنه: اجْلِسوا إلى التوّابين فإنّهم أرقّ أفئدة. وقال يَحيَى بن مُعاذ الرازيّ: زلّة واحدة للتائب بعد التوبة أقبح من سبعين قبلها.

      Ibrāhīm al-Tayyimī said, “I imagined my soul in the Garden, and it was as if I were eating the food of Paradise and embracing my wives there. Then, I imagined my soul as if I were in Hell, chained in fetters and eating from its bitter Zaqqūm tree. So I said to my soul, ‘Which do you desire?’ and it replied, ‘I will return to the world and repent!’ I said, ‘And what of you, now you have been granted your wish? Get up now and repent!’” ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may God be pleased with him, said, “Sit with the penitents; surely they have the most refined of hearts.”¹⁶ Yaḥyā ibn Muʿādh al-Rāzī said, “One slip for a penitent after his repentance is more odious than seventy before it.”¹⁷

      1.11

      وأمّا كلام القوم أهل الله في التوبة فكثير لا ينحصر وهو حقيقة التحقّق في التوبة. فمنه قال رُوَيم رضي الله عنه: معنى التوبة أن تتوب من التوبة أي من رَوِيّة التوبة والوقوف معها إذ الوقوف مع الغير حجاب. وقال النوريّ أن تتوب من كلّ شيء سوى الله تعالى. وقال عبد الله بن عليّ التَمِيميّ: شتّانَ بين تائب يتوب من الزلّات وتائب يتوب من الغفلات وتائب يتوب من الحسنات.

      As for the Sufi folk, God’s people, their discussion of repentance is extensive and limitless, and absolutely true concerning repentance. Ruwaym, may God be pleased with him, said, “The meaning of repentance is that you turn away from repentance,” that is, from the regard for repentance and attention to it, since attention to something other than God is a veil.¹⁸ Al-Nūrī said, “That is, you turn away from everything except God the Exalted.”¹⁹ ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAlī al-Tamīmī Abū Naṣr al-Sarrāj said, “What a difference there is between the penitent who repents of moral lapses, the penitent