If someone wishes to receive contentment with the judgement (qada) of Allah, let him practise constant remembrance of death, for remembering death makes afflictions and misfortunes seem insignificant. You must not be distrustful of His intentions toward yourself, your property or your children, but say: "My Lord knows me better than I do." If you always maintain this attitude, you will experience the pleasure of contentment and compliance. Misfortunes will depart, root and branch, and in their place you will receive blessings and delights. When you are compliant and happily content in conditions of adversity, blessings will come to you from all sides and from everywhere. Woe unto you, O you who are neglectful of Him! You must not be distracted from Him by seeking anything but Him. How often you ask Him to provide you with affluence but this may be a temptation for you, without you realizing it. You do not know the good in anything, so keep silent, conform, and ask Him to grant you contentment with His actions (af'al) and gratitude under all circumstances. Affluent provision is a temptation in the absence of gratitude, while shortage of sustenance is a temptation when patience is lacking. Gratitude will bring you more blessings and draw you closer to your Lord, while patience will put your heart on a firm footing, give it support and assistance, and help it to succeed. It will then have a praiseworthy outcome in this world and the hereafter. Resistance to the Lord of Truth is unlawful (haram); it darkens the heart and the face.
Woe unto you! O ignorant one, instead of letting your lower self (nafs) work in opposition, you should keep it busy pleading with the Lord of Truth. Keep it preoccupied with this, until the times of tribulation are over and the fires of misfortune are extinguished. O you who claim to seek the Lord of Truth, where do you stand in relation to one who is familiar with the treasure houses of His mercy (rahma) and His love (mahabba)? So plead with Him when you are on the road, before attaining to Him. When you are perplexed, say: "O Guide of the perplexed, guide me!" When you are put to the test and incapable of patience, say: "My God (Ilahi), help me, give me patience and grant me relief!" As for when you have arrived, and your heart is admitted to His presence and drawn near to Him, there is then no need to ask, no use for the tongue, but only silence and witnessing. You become a guest, and the guest does not express his own wishes. He behaves with good manners, eats what he is offered and accepts what he is given, unless he is told to say what he would like, in which case he makes his wishes known, in obedience to an order, not of his own volition. Asking is appropriate when one is at a distance, and silence when one is near.
The people of the Lord are acquainted with none but the Lord of Truth. Influential people (arbab) have lost all connection with them, and material concerns (asbab) have been discarded from their hearts. Even if they are deprived of food and drink for days or months, they do not care and remain unaffected because the Lord of Truth is their Sustainer (Mughadhdhi) and He gives them whatever nourishment He wishes.
Note: Extracts from lectures given by Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani in Ramadhan 545 A.H. Reference: The Sublime Revelation (Al-fath ar-Rabbani) Translated from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland.
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