And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

38. Let not the intention of your aspiration to shift to what is other than He, for one’s hopes cannot outstrip the Generous (al-Karim).

39. Appeal to no one but Him to relieve you of a pressing need that He Himself has brought upon you. For how can someone else remove what He has imposed? And how can he who is unable to free himself of a pressing need free anyone else of one?

40. If you have not improved your thinking of Him because of His nature, improve it because of His treatment of you. For has He accustomed you to anything but what is good? And has He conferred upon you anything but His favors?

41. How astonishing is he who flees from what is inescapable and searches for what is evanescent! “For surely it is not the eyes that are blind, but blind are the hearts which are in the breast.” [Quran 22:46]

42. Travel not from creature to creature, otherwise, you will be like a donkey at the mill: roundabout the turns, his goal the same as his departure. Rather, go from creatures (al-akwaan) to Creator (al-Mukawwin): “And that the final end is unto thy Lord.” [Quran 53:42] Consider the Prophet’s words (May Allah’s Salam or Peace be upon him): “Therefore, he whose flight is for Allah and His Messenger, then his flight is for Allah and His Messenger; and he whose flight is for worldly gain or marriage with a woman, then his flight is for that which he flees to.” So, understand his words (upon him be Peace) and ponder this matter, if you can. And Peace be upon you!

Chapter V, next