Sermon 190                                                  				 				Praise of Allah, Advice about fear of Allah and an account of  this world and its people, 
 
  Praise be to Allah Whose  praise is wide-spread, Whose army is over-powering and Whose dignity is  grand. I praise Him for His successive favours and His great gifts. His  forbearance is high so that He forgives and is just in whatever He  decides. He knows what is going on and what has already passed. He  crafted all creation by His knowledge and produced it by His  intelligence without limitation, without learning, without following the  example of any intelligent producer, without committing any mistake and  without the availability of any group (for help); I stand witness that  Muhammad - the peace and blessing of Allah be upon him and his  descendants - is His slave and His messenger whom He deputed (at a time)  when people were collecting in the abyss and moving in bewilderment.  The reins of destruction were dragging them, and the locks of malice lay  fixed on their hearts.   I advise you, O' creature of Allah, that you should have fear of Allah  because it is a right of Allah over you and it creates your right over  Allah, and that you should seek Allah's help in it, and its help in  (meeting) Allah. Certainly, for today fear of Allah is a protection and a  shield, and for tomorrow (the Day of Judgement) it is the road to  Paradise. Its way is clear and he who treads it is the gainer. Whoever  holds it, guards it. It has presented itself to the people who have  already passed and to those coming from behind, because they will need  it tomorrow (on the Day of Judgement) when Allah will revive His  creation again, take back what He has given and take account of what He  has bestowed. How few will be those who accept it and practise it as it  ought to be practised. They will be very few in number, and they are the  people who correspond to the description given by Allah, the Glorified,  when He says:    ... And very few of My creatures are grateful! (Qur'an. 34:13)     Therefore, hasten with your ears towards it and intensify your efforts  for it. Make it a substitute for all your past (short-comings) to take  their place as a successor, and make it your supporter against every  opponent. Turn your sleep into wakefulness by its help, and pass your  days with it. Make it the equipment of your hearts, wash your sins with  it, treat your ailments with it and hasten towards your death with it.  Take a lesson from him who neglects it, so that others who follow it  should not take a lesson from you (i.e., from your neglecting it).  Beware, therefore; you should take care of it and should take care of  yourselves through it.    Keep away from this world and proceed towards the next world  infatuatedly. Do not regard humble he whom fear Allah has given a high  position, and do not accord a high position to him whom this world has  given a high position. Do not keep your eyes on the shining clouds of  the world, do not listen to him who speaks of it, do not respond to him  who calls towards it, do not seek light from its glare, and do not die  in its precious things, because its brightness is deceitful, its words  are false, its wealth is liable to be looted, and its precious thing are  to be taken away.    Beware, this world attracts and then turns away. It is stubborn,  refusing to go ahead. It speaks lies and misappropriates. It disowns and  is ungrateful. It is malicious and abandons (its lovers). It attracts  but causes trouble. Its condition is changing, its step shaking, its  honour disgrace, its seriousness jest, and its height lowliness. It is a  place of plunder and pillage, and ruin and destruction. Its people are  ready with their feet to drive, to overtake and to depart. Its routes  are bewildering, its exits are baffling, and its schemes end in  disappointment. Consequently, strongholds betray them, houses throw them  out and cunning fails them.    Some of them are like hocked camel, some like butchered meat, some like  severed limbs, some like spilt blood, some are biting their hands (in  pain) some are rubbing their palms (in remorse), some are holding their  cheeks on their hands (in anxiety), some are cursing their own views and  some are retreating from their determination. But the time for action  has gone away and the hour of calamity has approached, while (there was  no longer) the time to escape (Qur'an, 38:3). Alas! Alas! what has been  lost is lost! what has gone is gone! The world has passed in its usual  manner.    So wept not on them the heavens and the earth nor were they  respited. (Qur'an, 44:29)     
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