Thursday, April 08, 2010

Pearls of wisdom 241

1.The source of the varying types of excessiveness that affect the heart manifest themselves in -- hearing, sight, speech, food, clothing, and houses.

2. Excessive hearing leads to forgetfulness and heedlessness.

3. Excessive sight leads to heedlessness and confusion.

4. Excessive food leads to greed and artificial needs.

5. Excessive clothing leads to boasting and ostentatious behavior.

6. Excessively large houses lead to waste and conceit.

7. You should know that protecting the limbs is an obligation, while abandoning excessiveness is a highly desired virtue.

8. The meaning of sincerity is the servant not returning to what he has repented to his Lord for.

9. Repentance is not proper unless it involves four things -- A conviction not to return to the sinful behavior; a request for forgiveness coupled with remorse; the usurped property or rights are returned or restored to the aggrieved party; and the limbs are protected from the potentially corrupting influence of the seven senses, namely: hearing, sight, speech, smell, the two hands, the two feet, and the heart, which is the commander of the others -- with it lies the rectitude or ruin of the body. [Above quotes by Imam Harith al Muhasibi]

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