O young men! Be charitable (tasaddaqu) enough to grant me a grain of honesty (sidq)! You are under no obligation to me as far as the goods of your household possessions are concerned. I want nothing from you except honesty and sincerity (ikhlas) and even this is for your benefit. I want you for your own sake, not for mine. You must curb the expressions of your outer and inner tongues, for you have supervisors watching over you. The angels are keeping watch over your outer selves (zawahir), while the Lord of Truth is keeping watch over your inner beings (bawatin). O you who build castles and palaces, while your life is spent on the cultivation of this world! Do not build anything without a righteous intention (niyya saliha), for the foundation on which one builds in this world must be righteous intention. You must not build with your lower self (nafs) and your passions (hawa). The ignorant person builds in this world with his lower self, his passions, his natural impulses and his habitual inclinations, without reference to the commandment of the law (hukm) or compliance with the judgment (qada') of Allah and conformity to His action (fi'l) so of course he cannot be credited with any righteous intention. He cannot enjoy the use of that which he has built, and someone else will occupy it. On the Day of Resurrection he will be asked: "Why did you build? Where did you get what you spent, and why did you spend it? He will be called to account for it all.
You must try to achieve contentment and compliance. Be satisfied with your alloted share, and do not try to acquire what has not been allotted to you. The Prophet s.a.w is reported as having said: "The hardest of all the punishments that Allah inflicts on His servant in this world, is having him go in search of that which has not been allotted to him."
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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