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Sarah
Feb 13, 2025
In The Warnings of Our Ancestors
5· Alas for people in this age of residues! The mind's wholesome core of truth has withered, and people live deceitfully, So their thoughts are warped, their speech is twisted, They cunningly mislead others-who can trust them?
6. Alas! How depressing to see the beings of this degenerate age! Alas! Can anyone trust what anyone says? It's like living in a land of vicious man-eating demons - Think about it, and do yourself a big favour.
7· Not long ago, your consciousness was wandering alone. Swept along by karma, it took this present birth. Soon, like a hair pulled out of butter, Leaving everything behind, you'll go on again alone.
8. Of course what we want is our own good, So we have to be honest with our own selves: If we don't accomplish the essence of the Dharma for our own sake, Won't we be ruining our own life?
9· In this dark age, what people think and do is vile. None of them will help you, they'll deceive and trick you; And for you to be of any help to them will be hard; Wouldn't it be best to quit the whole rat race?
10.Though you serve your superiors, they will never be pleased; Though you look after your inferiors, they will never be satisfied; Though you care about others, they won't care about you. Think about it, and make a firm decision.
11. Being learned these days doesn't help the teachings - it just leads to more debate; Being realised these days doesn't help others -it just leads to more criticism; Being in a responsible position these days doesn't help govern the country well-it only spreads revolt. Think about these times with sorrow and disgust.
12. Though you explain, people miss the point or don't believe you; Though your motivation is truly altruistic, people think it's not. These days, when the crooked see the straight as crooked, You can't help anyone-give up any hope of that.
13· "All phenomena are like magical illusions," said the Buddhas; But these days the illusions are more illusory than ever, Trickeries conjured up by devious illusionists- Beware of the illusions of this degenerate age's ways.
14. "All talk is like an echo," said the Buddhas, But these days it's more like the re-echo of an echo. What the echoes say and what they mean are not the same, So don't take any notice of these insidious echo-words.
15. Whoever you see isn't human, but a fraud; Whatever people say isn't right, but just lies. So since these days there's no one you can trust, You'd better live alone and stay free.
16. If your actions conform with Dharma, you'll antagonise everyone; If your words are truthful, most people will get angry; If your mind is truly good and pure, they will judge it a defect. Now is the time to keep your own way hidden.
(This whole text refers to the degenerate times but I only shared these verses as the rest speaks of reciting the mantra of Chenrezig (Bodhisattva of compassion) and thought it was best to omit. However, these specific verses seem quite apt for these times.)
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Sarah
Feb 13, 2025
In The Sacred Teachings
"Everything, O Jatilas, is burning. The eye is burning, all the senses are burning, thoughts are burning. They are burning with the fire of lust. There is anger, there is ignorance, there is hatred, and as long as the fire finds inflammable things upon which it can feed, so long will it burn, and there will be birth and death, decay, grief, lamentation, suffering, despair, and sorrow. Considering this, a disciple of the Dharma will see the four noble truths and walk in the eightfold path of holiness. He will become wary of his eye, wary of all his senses, wary of his thoughts. He will divest himself of passion and become free. He will be delivered from selfishness and attain the blessed state of Nirvāna."
XIX - Kassapa - Gospel of Buddha
“They are not sensuality, the pretty things in the world:
a person’s sensuality is volitional lust;
the pretty things remain just as they are in the world,
but the wise remove the desire for them.”
Aṅguttara Nikāya 6.63 - Pali Canon
"The Dharma of the Tathāgata does not require a man to go into homelessness or to resign the world, unless he feels called upon to do so; but the Dharma of the Tathāgata requires every man to free himself from the illusion of self, to cleanse his heart, to give up his thirst for pleasure and lead a life of righteousness.
And whatever men do, whether they remain in the world as artisans, merchants, and officers of the king, or retire from the world and devote themselves to a life of religious meditation, let them put their whole heart into their task; let them be diligent and energetic, and, if they are like the lotus, which, although it grows in the water, yet remains untouched by the water, if they struggle in life without cherishing envy or hatred, if they live in the world not a life of self but a life of truth, then surely joy, peace, and bliss will dwell in their minds."
XXIII - Aāthapidika - The Gospel of Buddha
And the divinity Sanaṅkumāra also spoke this verse:
‘The aristocrat is best among people
who take clan as the standard.
But one accomplished in knowledge and conduct
is best among gods and humans.’
Majjhima Nikāya 53 - Pali Canon
"He who deserves punishment must be punished, and he who is worthy of favour must be favoured. Yet at the same time he teaches to do no injury to any living being but to be full of love and kindness. These injunctions are not contradictory, for whosoever must be punished for the crimes which he has committed, suffers his injury not through the ill-will of the judge but on account of his evil-doing.
The Tathāgata teaches that all warfare in which man tries to slay his brother is lamentable, but he does not teach that those who go to war in a righteous cause after having exhausted all means to preserve the peace are blameworthy. He must be blamed who is the cause of war.
The Tathāgata teaches a complete surrender of self, but he does not teach a surrender of anything to those powers that are evil, be they men or gods or the elements of nature. Struggle must be, for all life is a struggle of some kind. But he that struggles should look to it lest he struggle in the interest of self against truth and righteousness.
He who struggles in the interest of self, so that he himself may be great or powerful or rich or famous, will have no reward, but he who struggles for righteousness and truth, will have great reward, for even his defeat will be a victory."
LI. - Simha’s Question Concerning Annihilation - The Gospel of Buddha
“I am the owner of my actions, heir to actions,
born of actions, related to my actions,
and I have actions as my shelter.
Whatever I do, for good or for evil, to that will I become the heir.”
Aṅguttara Nikāya 5:57 - Pali Canon
"The truth is not arbitrary nor a matter of opinion, but can be investigated,
and he who earnestly searches for the truth will find it.
"The truth is hidden to the blind, but he who has the mental eye sees the truth.
The truth is Buddha's essence, and the truth will remain the ultimate standard by
which we can discern false and true doctrines.
XCVIII - The Three Personalities of the Buddha - The Gospel Of Buddha
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Sarah
Jan 31, 2025
In The Sacred Teachings
For Generation and Time, in Heaven and in Earth, are of
a double Nature; in Heaven they are unchangeable and
incorruptible; but on Earth they are changeable and
corruptible.
And the Soul of Eternity is God; and the Soul of the
World, Eternity; and of the Earth, Heaven.
God is in the Mind, the Mind in the Soul, the Soul in the
Matter, all things by Eternity.
All this Universal Body, in which are all Bodies, is full of
Soul, the Soul full of Mind, the Mind full of God.
For within he fills them, and without he contains them,
quickening the Universe.
Without, he quickens this perfect living thing the World,
and within all living Creatures.
And above in Heaven he abides in Identity or Selfness,
but below upon Earth he changeth Generation.
Eternity comprehendeth the World either by necessity,
or Providence, or Nature.
And if any man shall think any other thing, it is God that
actuateth, or operateth this All.
But the operation or Act of God, is Power insuperable, to
which none may compare anything, either Humane or
Divine.
Therefore, O Hermes, think none of these things below,
or the things above, in anywise like unto God; for if thou
dost, thou errest from the Truth.
For nothing can be like the unlike, and only, and One; nor
mayest thou think that he hath given of his Power to any
other thing.
For who after him can make anything, either of Life or
Immortality: of Change or of Quality? and himself, what
other things should he make?
For God is not idle, for then all things would be idle; for
all things are full of God.
But there is not anywhere in the World, such a thing as
Idleness; for Idleness is a name that implieth a thing void or
empty, both of a Doer, and a thing done.
But all things must necessarily be made or done both
always, and according to the nature of every place.
For he that maketh or doth, is in all things, yet not
fastened or comprehended in anything; nor making or doing
one thing, but all things.
For being an active or operating Power, and sufficient of
himself for the things that are made, and the things that are
made are under him. (v34-51)
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Become higher than all height, lower than all depths,
comprehend in thyself the qualities of all the Creatures,
of the Fire, the Water, the Dry,
and Moist, and conceive likewise, that thou canst at once be everywhere,
in the Sea, in the Earth.
Thou shalt at once understand thyself, not yet begotten
in the Womb, young, old, to be dead, the things after death,
and all these together, as also times, places, deeds, qualities,
quantities, or else thou canst not yet understand God.
But if thou shut up thy Soul in the Body, and abuse it,
and say, I understand nothing, I can do nothing, I am afraid
of the Sea, I cannot climb up to Heaven, I know not who I
am, I cannot tell what I shall be: What hast thou to do with
god? for thou canst understand none of those Fair and Good
things, and be a lover of the body and Evil.
For it is the greatest Evil, not to know God.
But to be able to know, and to will, and to hope, is the
straight way, and Divine way, proper to the Good, and it will
everywhere meet thee, and everywhere be seen of thee, plain
and easy, when thou dost not expect or look for it; it will
meet thee waking, sleeping, sailing, travelling, by night, by
day, when thou speakest, and when thou keepest silence.
For there is nothing which is not the Image of God.
(v 129-133)
The Tenth Book, the Mind to Hermes, The Divine Pymander
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Sarah
Jan 30, 2025
In The Sacred Teachings
Withdraw into yourself and look. And if you do not find yourself beautiful yet, act as does the creator of a statue that is to be made beautiful: he cuts away here, he smoothes there, he makes this line lighter, this other purer, until a lovely face has grown upon his work. So do you also: cut away all that is excessive, straighten all that is crooked, bring light to all that is overcast, labour to make all one glow of beauty and never cease chiselling your statue, until there shall shine out on you from it the godlike splendour of virtue, until you shall see the perfect goodness surely established in the stainless shrine.
When you know that you have become this perfect work, when you are self-gathered in the purity of your being, nothing now remaining that can shatter that inner unity, nothing from without clinging to the authentic man, when you find yourself wholly true to your essential nature, wholly that only veritable Light which is not measured by space, not narrowed to any circumscribed form nor again diffused as a thing void of term, but ever unmeasurable as something greater than all measure and more than all quantity -- when you perceive that you have grown to this, you are now become very vision: now call up all your confidence, strike forward yet a step -- you need a guide no longer- strain, and see.
BEAUTY 9. - SIX TRACTATE - THE ENNEADS - PLOTINUS
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Sarah
Jul 28, 2024
In The Hermit's Path
In the dead of night, a Sufi began to weep.
He said, "This world is like a closed coffin, in which
We are shut and in which, through our ignorance,
We spend our lives in folly and desolation.
When Death comes to open the lid of the coffin,
Each one who has wings will fly off to Eternity,
But those without will remain locked in the coffin.
So, my friends, before the lid of this coffin is taken off,
Do all you can to become a bird of the Way to God;
Do all you can to develop your wings and your feathers.
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So long as we do not die to ourselves and so long as we identify with someone or something, we shall never be free
The spiritual way is not for those wrapped up in exterior life
Strive to discover the mystery before life is taken from you
If while living you fail to find yourself, to know yourself,
how will you be able to understand the secret of your existence when you die?
~ Farid al-Din Attar (1145-1221) - Persian poet and Sufi mystic ~
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Sarah
Jul 08, 2024
In The Hermit's Path
With gentle art and charm, You claimed my heart, gradually, gradually
And hollowed me out of my self, gradually, gradually.
You draw the soul to Yourself, kindling a flame within the heart
Much akin to a rope being pulled, gradually, gradually.
Your aim it seems, is for me to be a sacrifice on Your path
Pulling the heart to take my soul, gradually, gradually.
Your love found home within my heart, its city wholly seized
It liberated me from my existence, gradually, gradually.
To Your love, my heart I gave, indifferent now to worldly charm
Severing the thread of life from the body, gradually, gradually.
So deep my contemplation, I became You, from head to toe
You came little by little, and I left, gradually, gradually.
To You, my heart and soul I pledged, and vanished from the stage
I retreated from Your alleyway, gradually, gradually.
Fayḍ Kashani (Dīwān)
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Sarah
May 20, 2024
In The Hermit's Path
WSD:9:1 Avoid all places and people, which conduce to evil. Keep away from hypocrites, for, having a common feeling of degradation, they will congregate together, and it would be unwise to be numbered among them. Hypocrites tend towards evil because they serve its purpose and, therefore having an affinity with it, they turn away from what is good and just. They are hard fisted when the poor come discretely seeking for alms, but are open-handed when approached in a public place. Surely the hypocrite must be the lowest form of man or woman!
WSD:9:2 If you meet a stranger who appears to be filled with extraordinary virtues, or who conducts himself with grace and good manners, do not hastily conclude that this is his true character. Go to the place where he lives and is known. Note his attitude towards his family and behaviour among friends, and listen to what is said about him. Only then will you be in a better position to judge and to weigh him in the balances.
WSD:9:3 There are many persons of a hypocritical nature who reveal their true character in one place, but put on a false display of goodness in another. If you accept a man or woman in haste and are deceived, then blame no one except yourself. The man who accepts another at his own valuation usually gets a poor bargain.
WSD:9:4 Avoid those whose natures are shallow or superficial, even though they may be attractive and pleasant. Shallow streams sparkle most, and weakest waters make the most pleasant sound. There are many whose understanding of friendship is mere companionship, and they neither seek nor know anything deeper. Such people should not be cultivated beyond acquaintanceship. No man really knows another until he has seen him exposed to danger and loss. Even then, he cannot know him fully until he has seen him when tested by prosperity and success.
WSD:9:5 Avoid those who are seeking to benefit from your friendship; they are not for you. Friendship is a precious plant, which must be nurtured in the good soil of sincerity and trust, and plentifully watered with loyalty and understanding. The man who presumes too much on friendship is unworthy of it.
WSD:9:6 Avoid the loose woman, for even if she is beautiful, it may be just a lure over the pit trap, Do not become snared by your desires or let your eyes drug your wisdom. The man who claps fire to his chest cannot escape unburned, and he who embraces uncleanliness will be soiled, however delicately it is wrapped.
WSD:9:7 Avoid an evil neighbour and a wicked neighbourhood, bearing in mind that a man is judged according to his associations. There are many weak characters who, while not desiring to associate with the wicked or live in their neighbourhood, will do so for benefit or to advance their ends. Unless they are prepared to freely admit their weakness, they are hypocrites.
WSD:9:8 Avoid the places of pleasure, which attract the weak and bad characters, for if you associate with them you cannot expect to remain uncontaminated. Bear in mind that the best person to associate with may not be the best companion; and evil places are generally more alluring than the good.
Celtic Texts of the Coelbook, The Kolbrin Bible
Book of Wisdom (WSD) Chapter 9 - People and Places to Avoid
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Sarah
May 14, 2024
In The Hermit's Path
Hope
Hope is the heart's comfort when it anticipates something it loves. If most of the criteria for the realisation of that longing are put in place, then that waiting can rightly be called hope - like when someone plants seeds in fertile, well-irrigated soil and then hopes for a good harvest. If, however, the necessary conditions are missing, then waiting is but self-delusion and idiocy - as with someone who plants seeds in barren soil and does not water them. If, however, the person doubts whether the seeds will sprout or not, then that is called wish - as when the soil is fertile but water scarce.
This world is the planting ground for the Hereafter. The heart is like the soil, and faith is like the seeds that are planted in it. Good deeds plough, dredge, and irrigate the soil. The heart becomes negligent, however, and immerses itself in worldly pleasures, which are like a salt marsh on which nothing will grow. On the Day of Resurrection - the harvest day - each person will only reap what he sowed, and the harvest of faith will only come to fruition from the seeds of faith. Rarely does faith flourish in a corrupt heart with bad morals, just as seeds cannot flourish in a salt marsh.
Man must compare his hope of forgiveness, therefore, to the hope of a farmer when he plants his crop. A farmer seeks out good, fertile land, plants good seeds therein, ploughs the soil, and weeds it from everything that would hamper or spoil the growth of his seeds. He waters it regularly, then sits and waits for the grace of Allah to avert destructive disasters from it until the crop is ready to be harvested - that is called hope. If he scatters the seeds in a salt marsh or on uneven, raised ground that the rain could not water, and he does not prepare the ground to receive the seeds; and then he sits and waits for a good harvest, then that kind of anticipation would be called stupidity and self-delusion, not hope. And if he scatters the seeds in fertile soil in a place where there is neither drought nor deluge, but no rain falls - although he eagerly awaited it - his waiting would be called 'wishing', not hope.
The word 'hope', therefore, can be applied correctly to the anticipation of something positive and beloved, where all the necessary preliminary steps that are under one's own control have been put in place, and the only thing left is that which is not under one's control, which is the Grace of Allah in averting calamities and disasters. When the servant scatters the seeds of faith, waters them with acts of obedience, purifies the heart of the thorns and weeds of vice, and waits for Allah's grace to stabilise his faith for him until his death and to give him a good end, encompassed in His forgiveness, that waiting is true, commendable hope, for it incites him to work hard and understand everything necessary for his faith to flourish by fulfilling the prerequisites of being forgiven until the end.
If he neglects to water his seeds with acts of obedience, leaves his heart full of the thorns and weeds of vice, plunges into the pursuit of worldly pleasures, and then sits and waits for forgiveness, his wait will be idiotic and self-deluded.
Therefore, the servant [of Allah] who is diligent in performing good deeds and keeping away from sins deserves to anticipate Allah's Grace to complete His blessing on him by admitting him into Paradise. And if the sinner repents and acknowledges all his excesses and shortcomings, he can rightfully hope for his repentance to be accepted - if he is now averse to sins, upset by misdeeds and pleased with good deeds, and is self-critical and self-reproaching. A person who desperately wants to repent and longs to do so can rightfully hope for divine succour to enable him to repent, for his hatred of sins and his eagerness to obey is a preliminary step to actualise repentance, and hope only comes after the fulfilment of these first steps.
Fear
Fear is an expression of the pain and burning that the heart feels when it anticipates something unpleasant in the future. The intensity of the fear and pain in the heart is in direct proportion to the perception of the causes leading up to the unpleasant or frightful situation. The weaker one's perception of these causes, the weaker the fear is.
Fear of Allah can be due to the true knowledge of Allah and of His Attributes, or it can be due to the servant's excessive treachery and perpetration of sins. It may also come about as a result of both of these causes combined, so that his fear is proportionate to his knowledge of Allah's might, supremacy, and independence, as well as to his own faults and misdeeds. So the person who fears his Lord the most is the one who knows Him - and the state of his own soul - the most.
This complete knowledge should inflame his heart with a fear that spreads to his body, his limbs, and character. Bodily fear is expressed through paleness, trembling and weeping. It should keep the limbs from perpetrating more sins and confine them to acts of obedience in a bid to remedy past excesses and to prepare for the future. It is said, 'The fearful one is not the one who cries and wipes his tears, but rather the one who abandons that which he fears he will be punished for.' A sage once said, 'He who fears something flees from it, but he who fears Allah flees to Him.' Regarding character, fear should drive a person to hold his vain desires and lusts in contempt.
Sins once beloved now become despicable in his eyes, just like a person despises the honey he once craved when he realises it is poisonous to him. The desires are burned away through fear, and the heart is subdued and humbled, awed and yielding. Pride, malice, and jealousy vacate it and it becomes a repository for concern and consideration for the danger of his Hereafter. He does not leave it at the disposal of others and he is preoccupied in monitoring himself, evaluating himself, striving and taking account of his every breath and every moment. He takes his soul to task for every step and every word that it utters, such that both outwardly and inwardly he is busy with what he fears will happen to him.This is the state of one who is overcome and ruled by fear. The lowest level of fear is the fear whose effects can be seen in one's deeds where it prevents a person from prohibited things. Holding back from prohibited acts out of fear of Allah is called self-restraint. And if someone attains more daily provision than he needs, for example, and he restrains himself from what might border on the unlawful, that is called piety or God-consciousness, for it drives him to abandon that which is unobjectionable for fear that it might be objectionable; and this is veracity in God-consciousness.
Additionally, if he devotes himself exclusively to service (khidmah), he will not build [a house] which he does not live in. He will not hoard what he does not consume, nor focus on this world when he knows it will leave him. Nor will he spend even a single breath on something which is not for the sake of Allah. This is veracity (sidq); such a person deserves to be called veracious (siddiq). Veracity encompasses God- consciousness, which in turn encompasses piety, which encompasses self-restraint, which is an expression of keeping away from all that is driven by desires, especially since the effect of fear permeates into the hands and feet.
Hope versus fear
Know that action fuelled by hope is more elevated than action fuelled by fear because the closest of Allah's servants to Him are those who love Him most, and love is attained through hope. This is why there are many expressions of desire in the Qur'an and hadith based on hope and entertaining a good opinion of Allah.
The way to cultivate hope is to remember all previous instances of Allah's grace in one's life without the need for a mediator, and all that He has promised in terms of rewards without having deserved them, and all the blessings that He bestows in this life and the next without being asked, and the vastness of His mercy in situations which merit His wrath.
The narrations that we have about the vastness of Allah's mercy are innumerable, and there is no need to list them all here, for the ones who need to cultivate that kind of hope are those who are completely overcome by fear or despair, and there are very few such people out there. As for those who are persistent in their wrongdoing, rebellious and intent on sinning, self-deluded about their corruption and error, like the majority of people these days, then hearing these narrations will only incite their rebellion further, and add to their corruption.
Balancing hope and fear
Know that hope is only praiseworthy to a certain extent, but when it goes beyond that to a feeling of security or immunity, then it is a loss. The best way, therefore, is to be balanced.
Among most people, hope is predominant, and this is due to self-delusion or a lack of true understanding. The best thing for them is to allow awe or fear of displeasing Allah to prevail before death, and at the time of death to let hope and a good opinion of Allah prevail. This is because fear acts as a whip that drives one to act, and at the time of death, the time for action has passed and he can no longer bear the whips of fear, and it may cause his heart to give way and hasten his death. The spirit of hope, however, strengthens the heart at the time of death, endearing to it its Lord, to whom it looks forward to returning.
No one should leave this world without being in a state of loving Allah and looking forward to meeting Him, for whoever longs to meet Allah, Allah also longs to meet him. And whoever is forthcoming in meeting his Beloved, his joy is heightened in proportion to his love, whereas the trial intensifies for the one who rejects his Beloved. Therefore, at the time of death, the more man is attached to his love of his family, his children, his wealth, his house, his friends, and his associates, then all of his love is in this world. The world is his Paradise, and death is expulsion from that Paradise, walling him from what he loves. However, if his only beloved was Allah, and there was nothing he loved more than to remember Him, to know Him and to ponder about Him, then this world and its attachments would be mere distractions for him away from his Beloved. The world would be a prison for him, and death would take him to his Beloved, where he could be free from this prison. The peak of salvation and bliss, therefore, is to die while loving Allah, the Exalted.
The two levels of fear of Allah
Know that fear of Allah has two different levels. The first is the fear of His punishment, and this is the fear that the majority of people have. It comes from basic faith in Paradise and Hellfire, and their being the recompense for either obedience or rebellion. Lack of fear or a weakness thereof results from negligence or weak faith, and can be remedied by reminders, exhortations, and reflecting on the terrors of the Day of Resurrection and the various punishments in the Hereafter. It can also be increased by looking at God-fearing people, associating with them, and taking note of their states; and if that is not possible, then listening to accounts of such people will not go to waste.
The second level, which is higher, is where Allah is feared, or rather the servant fears being distant and veiled from Him. He longs for nearness to Allah, and this is the fear possessed by those who have knowledge ('ulama') - those whose hearts truly know Allah and His Attributes that command awe, respect, and fear, and of those who understand the purport of His words As for the fear or the awe possessed by the angels, the prophets, the saints and the Imams of guidance, such as the fear of Mika'il, Gabriel, our Prophet, Abraham, David, John the Baptist, Imam al-Sajjad, and other such personalities - the narrators of hadith have written accounts of it in their books, and whoever wishes to read further about it should refer to them.
The fearful ones
Know that fear only arises from anticipation of an unpleasant situation. This unpleasant situation can either be unpleasant in and of itself, such as fire. Or it can be unpleasant because it consequently exposes one to something unpleasant, such as when sins are abhorred because they lead to an unpleasant predicament in the Hereafter. Every single person should conceive of an unpleasant situation in his own self, from either one of these categories, to strengthen his sense of anticipation in his heart, until his heart burns as a result of the possible experience of that unpleasant thing. The states of the fearful ones vary according to the nature of the unpleasant situations that they may anticipate in their hearts.
First are those whose hearts are overcome by the fear of something that consequently leads to an unpleasant predicament. Some are overcome by fear of dying before they can repent. Or fear that their repentance may be rejected. Or fear that their resolve to fulfil Allah's rights upon them will weaken. Or fear that their hearts will lose their softness and become hard. Or fear of losing steadfastness. Or fear of becoming habituated to following permissible desires. Or fear of being rejected by Allah because of those good deeds that he felt proud of in front of others. Or fear of recklessness with the abundant blessings that Allah has bestowed on him. Or fear of becoming preoccupied with something other than Allah. Or fear of gradually being tested with His blessings. Or fear of discovering obstacles to the acceptance of his worship and finding out later that his worship was not counted. Or fear of the consequences of what he has done to people in the form of backbiting, treachery, deception, evil intentions. Or fear of what will happen to him the rest of his life. Or fear of his punishment being hastened in his lifetime and being disgraced before death. Or fear of being deluded by the vanities of this world. Or fear of Allah looking deep into his core at the moment of his weakness. Or fear of death ending his life with an evil end. Or fear of his past sins that he cannot remember anymore.
These are all fears harboured by the gnostics or those who truly know Allah, and each one of them has a special benefit in that it leads one to exercise caution with respect to anything that will expose him to that fear. So for example, one who fears that he will become habituated to a specific pleasure will be careful and wean himself from it before it becomes a habit, and the one who fears that Allah will see his inner core will strive to purify his heart of all negativity.
The fear that overcomes most God-wary people is the fear of an evil end. Since that is restricted, then the best way to proceed towards acquiring inner knowledge is to fear one's past, for indeed one's end branches out from one's past with many paths in between. So the end will reflect that which has already passed and been decreed in the Divine Record.
Some are overcome with fear of something that is unpleasant in and of itself. There are those who are overcome by fear of the pangs of death and their severity. Or fear of the questioning in the grave. Or the punishment in the grave. Or the terrors that they may witness. Or the fear of standing before Allah and feeling ashamed of being exposed, and being asked to account for every little thing. Or fear of the Bridge [outstretched between Heaven and Hell] and its sharpness and how he will cross it. Or fear of the Fire, its chains and fetters and torments. Or fear of being deprived entrance into Paradise or being demoted in its levels. Or fear of being veiled from Allah - and this is the worst of these fears held by the gnostics. That is preceded by the fears held by the worshippers, the ascetics, and the rest of the good-doers. It is no small fact that the virtue of a thing increases in proportion to how helpful it is in securing eternal felicity and bliss.
There is no greater bliss than meeting Allah, and there is no way to attain that except by first cultivating love for Him and intimacy with Him in this world. Love can only be cultivated through inner knowledge, and inner knowledge can only be attained through perpetually thinking about Him. Intimacy can only be had by loving Him and constantly remembering Him. Diligence in the remembrance of Allah, and pondering about Him only comes when the love of this world has first been uprooted from the heart; and that is only uprooted when the vain pleasures and caprices of this world are abandoned. It is not possible to abandon pleasures without first uprooting the desires that lead to them, and there is nothing that can kill one's desire for something faster than the fire of fear.
Fear is, therefore, the fire that burns away desires, and hence, its virtue is in direct proportion to the desire that it burns up, to the extent that it prevents a person from sins and drives him towards good.
Fayd Kashani - Spiritual Mysteries and Ethical Secrets - Book 3
(This is the full chapter of Hope & Fear minus the excerpts/quotes from the Quran, Prophet Mohammed and other muslim scholars. Wanted to keep it as short as possible while still providing the information. If you want to read the excerpts/quotes, please refer to the book. Free pdf versions are available online.)
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