-- Rabi'a al-Adawiyya

Oh my soul

It is not, except a few days of patience

As if the extent were but a few dreams

Oh my soul

Pass quickly on through this world

And leave it, for indeed life lies ahead of it.

-- a poem, attributed to Imam ash-Shaafi'ee rahimullah

Night is gone and day is here. And between your hands is a long road, and few provisions. The caravans of the righteous are far ahead of us, and we're still here. Wake up, wake up, wake up.

-- how 'Amra, a saliha, used to wake her husband for night prayer

A narration tells us that after the Isha prayer, Habiba al-Adawiyya used to climb onto her roof, cover herself, and pray until dawn. She would say:

Ya Allah, the stars have receded deep into the night, the eyes have closed their lids, the kings have locked their gates, and Your gate is open.

And now Allah, as darkness tonight is turning it's back, and the day is showing it's light, I wonder if You accepted my nights efforts - so that if You accepted them, I will be congratulated, and if You rejected them, I may mourn.

-- from class

Khalid al-Warraq's servant - whose name we don't know - was constantly in worship of Allah. Once Khalid advised her about Allah's mercy and compassion, and she wept. She said,

Ya Khalid, I know. I hold hopes in Allah so big that if the mountains carried them, they would be burdened by their weight. And I know that in the generosity of Allah there is safety for every sinner. But where will I be when it comes to the grief of the race?

Khalid asked her, what is the grief of the race?

She said, when there is resurrection on the day of Hashr - when all that is inside the graves will be spread, and the abraar [the righteous servants] will mount the most beautiful of their works and race to the siraat. By the dignity I hold in my heart for you, I swear that [...] the negligent will never be able to move ahead in this race.

What will happen to me, then? What pain and sorrow and grief will I feel, when the banner is lifted for those who have mounted their beautiful deeds, and the banner is lifted for the muhsinoon [those who do good]; and the banner is lifted for those who yearn for Allah, and the banner is lifted for those who love Allah - but I have to stay back with the sinners?

And she wept.

Ya Khalid, beware of anything that will interrupt a fast race to righteous action - for between the two homes [of dunyaa and akhira] there is no home to make up for what one has missed. Woe on the person who is negligent in the servitude of his master, while carrying hope in him. Shouldn't his hopes wake him up while the lazy ones are asleep?

-- from class

I seek forgiveness in Allah from the lack of truthfulness in my saying, "I seek forgiveness."

-- from class

A shadow can't ignore the sun that all day creates and moves it.

-- rumi

People count with self-satisfaction the number of times they have recited the name of God on their prayer beads, but they keep no beads for reckoning the number of idle words they speak. Umar - may Allah be pleased with him - said, "Weigh well your words and deeds before they are weighed on the day of Judgement".

-- Ghazali

"Does money upset the hearts of learned men?"

He answered, "Men whose hearts are changed by money are not learned."

-- attributed to Ghazali

A sufi is neither an ecstatic devotee lost in contemplation of tawheed, nor a saintly recluse shunning all commerce with mankind. The true sufi goes in and out among the people, eats and sleeps with them, buys and sells in the market, marries and takes part in social intercourse, and never forgets God a single moment.

-- Abu Sa'id

The lower self [nafs] is like a flame both in its display of beauty and in its hidden potential for destruction; though its color is attractive, it burns.

-- from 'essentials of sufism'

Remember your contemporaries who have passed away and were your age. Remember the honors and fame they earned, the high posts they held, and the beautiful bodies they possessed. Today all of them are turned to dust. They have left orphans and widows behind them, their wealth is being wasted, and their houses turned into ruins.

No sign of them is left today, and they lie in dark holes underneath the earth.

Picture their faces before your mind's eye and ponder.

Do not fix hopes on your health, and do not laugh away life. Remember how they walked and now all their joints lie seperately, and the tongue with which they talked lightly is eaten away by the worms.

-- Ghazali

My brother, if you shed tears for me
and wet my grave with them in humility
then light the candle for them with my remains
and march with them towards eternal glory

My brother, if I die we'll meet our loved ones
for the gardens of our Lord are prepared for us
and their birds have fluttered around us
so blessed are we in the homes of eternity.

My brother, the armies of darkness will be swept away
and there will shine in the world a new dawn.
so let your soul go after its desires [for jihad]
you will see the dawn staring at us from afar.

-- Sayyid Qutb, in his Qasida

Al A'amash narrated that Abdullah ibn Hanzala said:

We once joined a campaign led by Salman al-Farisi, may Allah be pleased with him. One evening we were sitting listening to a recital from Sura Maryam, and someone in the audience became extremely upset, to the point that he insulted her and her son. We immediately jumped at him and hit him without mercy in defense of God's messenger Jesus and his mother, upon both of whom be peace. The injured man went to Salman, the commander of the army then, and he reported us to him.

Salman came to see us, and he said firmly, 'Why did you people beat this man?'

We replied, 'We were reading Sura Maryam, and he unjustly insulted her and her son!'

Salman said, 'Have you not heard Allah, the Lord of Majesty and Glory say, 'Do not insult those who call upon lords besides Allah, thus causing them to insult Allah in ignorance, and without knowledge?''

Salman then turned to the people and said,

'Oh Arabs! Did you not at one time uphold the most evil religious practices humanity has ever known? And did you not at one time live below most standards humanity has ever known? And is it not true, that later on, Allah has blessed you with the religion of Islam, and He honored you with His generous gifts? How dare you now raise the might of Allah against other people, an authority He alone disposes of? I swear by Almighty Allah, that either you stop such unwarranted provocations, or expect Allah, the Lord of Majesty and Glory, to strip you of His gifts and bounties and hand them over to other nations.'

-- from 'beauty of the righteous'

I am a traveler seeking the Truth, a human searching for the meaning of humanity, and a citizen seeking dignity, freedom, stability and welfare under the shade of Islam. I am a free man who is aware of the purpose of his existence and calls, truly, my prayer and my sacrifice, my life and my death, are all for Allah, the Cherisher of the worlds; He has no partner. This I am commanded and I am among those who submit to His Will. This is who I am. Who are you?

-- Hassan al Banna, when once asked by a journalist to introduce himself

You possess only whatever will not be lost in a ship wreck.

-- attributed to Ghazali

Zuhud [ascetecism] is not that you should not own anything, but that nothing should own you.

-- Ali ibn Abu Talib

We patch the life of this world by tearing from our religion, so neither our religion remains nor what we patch. Blessed is he who prefers Allah, his Rabb, and renounces the life of this world for what he expects as reward in the hereafter.

-- Ibraheem ibn Adham, when asked "how are you?"

The knowledge of the hypocrite is in his speech, and the knowledge of the believer is in his actions.

-- unknown

for those who realize that everything is from God, everything is the same.

--- rumi

Each faculty of ours delights in that for which it was created: lust delights in accomplishing desire, anger in taking vengeance, the eye in seeing beautiful objects, and the ear in hearing harmonious sounds. The highest function of the soul is the perception of truth.

-- Ghazali

The early imams were cautious about speaking about [the lawful and unlawful] because one who speaks about such matters is relating information from Allah, enunciating His commandments and prohibitions, and passing on His sacred law. It was said about Ibn Sirin, "If he was asked about something regarding the lawful or the unlawful, his color would change. He would be transformed until he no longer seemed the same person."

Ata' ibn al-Saib said, "I met people who, when asked for a religious verdict, would tremble as they spoke."

It is related that when Imam Malik was asked about a legal matter, it was as if he were suspended between Heaven and Hell.

Imam Ahmad was extremely hesitant to speak on the lawful and unlawful, to claim that something was abrogated, or related matters which others would too readily expound. He frequently prefaced his answers with phrases such as, "I hope that..," "I fear..," or "It is more beloved to me..."

Imam Malik and others would frequently say, "I do not know." Imam Ahmad would often say on an issue with which righteous forbears had various opinions, "The most likely answer is, 'I do not know.' "

--- Ibn Rajab al Hanbali, from 'the Heirs of the Prophets'

Prayer does not mean that you should be standing, bowing, and prostrating yourself all day long; the object is that the state that manifests itself during prayer should remain with you constantly, whether asleep or awake, whether writing or reading. In no state should you be void of the remembrance of God.

Petition Him every moment for your needs and be not without remembrance of Him, for the remembrance of Him is strength; it is a wing to the bird of the spirit. If you are mindful of God, little by little your interior will be illuminated and you will attain release from the world.

-- rumi

I love the pious although I am not among them.

-- Abu Hanifa, rahimullah

When Ali ibn Husain used to perform wudu, his color would change. His family asked him why this happened to him every time he performed ablution, and he said, "Do you know before Whom I am about to stand (in prayer)?"

-- from class

Plant resolution in your spirit, and place defeat in your lower self and death in your physical body. For your true destination is the grave and the people of the grave are waiting for you at every moment. Take care, beware lest you arrive without provision for the journey.

Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "These bodies are but cages like those of birds, or stables such as those of animals; so consider for yourself of which you are. If you are of the heavenly birds, when you heard the call 'Return to your Lord', you will fly upwards until you reach the highest towers of Paradise. May Allah save you if you were one of the animals, as Allah the Exalted says, 'They are like cattle, nay more misguided.' So do not consider yourself safe from the removal of the security of your home to the fire of Hell."

It was narrated that Hasan al Basri, may Allah be pleased with him, was given a drink of cool water. He took the glass whereupon it fell from his hands and he fell unconscious. When he regained consciousness, he was asked "What is the matter O Abu Saeed?"

He said, "I remembered the desires of the inmates of Hell when they say to the people of Paradise; 'give us some of the water or some of the provisions that Allah has granted you.' "

-- Ghazali, from 'Dear Beloved Son'

The realization of 'La ilaha illa Allah' is one of the states of the heart that can be neither expressed by the tongue nor thought out by the mind.

--- Ibn Ata'ala

The excellence of knowledge is due only to the fact that it causes a person to fear and obey Allah, otherwise it is just like anything else.

-- Sufyan ath-Thawri

The inner truth of desire is that it is a restive motion in the heart in search of God.

-- al-Qushayri

All humans are dead except those who have knowledge; and all those who have knowledge are asleep, except those who do good deeds; and those who do good deeds are deceived, except those who are sincere; and those who are sincere are always in a state of worry.

-- Imam Shafi'ee, rahimullah

We once asked, "Why is it that we cannot uphold Prayers at night?"

He answered: "You are shackled in your own sins."

-- Hasan al Basri

To love Allah, to know Him intimately, to remember Him constantly, to find peace and rest in Him, to make Him alone the [ultimate] object of love, fear, hope and trust; to base one's act on His control of His servant's cares, aspirations and will - such is the world's Heaven, and such is a blessing with which no other blessing can compare. It is by this that the hearts of those who love Allah are gladdened and that the gnostics find life. As their hearts are gladdened by Allah, so others are gladdened by them. For whoever finds his source of gladness in Allah, gladdens all hearts; whoever does not, finds nothing in this world but restlessness.

-- Ibn al-Qayyim, in 'the Invocation of God'

He has afflicted you from every direction in order to pull you back to the Directionless.

-- rumi

A king among people is one whom no one rules but God the most high, and who does not need anything except God - great and glorious. And with that he rules his kingdom insofar as his soldiers and his subjects obey him. Yet the kingdom proper to him is his own heart and soul, where his soldiers are his appetities, his anger, and his affections; while his subjects are his tongue, his eyes, his hands, and the rest of his organs. If he rules them and they do not rule him, and if they obey him and he does not obey them, he will attain the level of a king in this world.

One of those who know was right to respond to a prince who said to him: 'Ask me for what you need' by saying: 'Is that the way you speak to me when I have two servants who are your masters?'

Whe he said 'what are these two?' the knower answered: 'Greed and desire: for I have conquered them yet they have conquered you; I rule over them while they rule over you.'

-- Ghazali

Perhaps the most difficult of all the requirements of religion is simplicity, for the simple man is all of one piece; he does not leave bits of himself scattered all over the landscape of his life. He is, so to speak, the same all through, whichever way you slice him, and it has been said that only the saint has a right to say ‘I’; the rest of us would do better to confess ‘My name is legion’. This inward multiplicity – the multiplicity of the ‘factions’- is like an echo within the human personality of outward polytheism; on the one hand many persons within a single envelope of flesh, on the other many gods in a fragmented universe. Monotheism is not only a theology; it is also a psychology. As is the Shahaada – La ilaha illa ‘Llah (There’s no God worthy of worship except Allah)

-Charles Le Gai Eaton

"Our problem is one of spirituality. If a man comes to speak to me about the reforms to be undertaken in the Muslim world, about political strategies and of great geo-strategic plans, my first question to him would be whether he performed the dawn prayer [fajr] in its time."

"Our ethical behavior and conscience of good and evil is an arm that is used against us by despots, the lovers of titles, power, and money. They do that which we cannot do; they lie as we cannot lie, they betray as we cannot betray, and kill as we cannot kill. Our exactness before God is, in their eyes, our weakness. This apparent weakness is our real strength."

-- Said Ramadan, son of Hassan al Banna, father of Tariq Ramadan

Five things act to cure the heart: recitation of Quran with contemplation and reflection; an empty stomache; to stay up nights in prayer; to be in humble supplication of Allah in the time before dawn breaks; and to be in the company of righteous people.

-- Yahya ibn Mu'adh, a tabi'i, rahimullah

I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty.

You don't grasp that what is most alive of all is inside your own house;

and so you walk from one holy city to another with a confused look.

-- Kabir (a poet)

Oh you who persists on mistakes and wrong doings; oh you who has turned away from what the most Loving and Compassionate commands; oh you who obeys the falsifier of the path and the creator of calamities ... How long are you going to insist on your misbehavior? How long are you going to keep yourself distant from your Lord? How long will you seek from this world what you cannot have, and keep away from the other world by that which you cannot possess? Neither are you sure of what Allah prepared of sustenance for you, nor are you satisfied with that which He has commanded for you. Admonition does not seem to benefit you. Afflictions do not seem to threaten you. Time does not leave you and the call of death does not reach your ears. As if, you poor man, would live forever and you weren't meant to expire and be forgotten?

-- Ibn al-Jawzee, in 'bahr ad-dumu'

May Allah steal from you All that steals you from Him.

-- attributed to Rabi'a al-Adawiyya

A sheep is nobler than a man who sacrifices the commands of Allah for the sake of his desire, for the call of the shepherd is heard by the sheep.

-- unknown

In the intricate path of life, when difficulties and hardships confront a person, it is patience that acts as a light for Muslims, that keeps them safe from wandering, and saves them from the muddy mire of disappointment, desperation, and frustration. Patience is such a basic quality that Muslims require it to shape their life in this world. Only when armed with patience should they attend to work. They should make it a torch light for guiding their way, else they suffer defeat in the field of life.

-- al Ghazali, in Khuluq al-Muslim

Intelligence is like a river; the deeper it is the less noise it makes.

-- some good advice given to me

This life is not real. I conquered the world and it did not bring me satisfaction.

-- Muhammad Ali (boxing champ)

Being a man is the continuing battle for one’s life. One loses a bit of manhood with every stale compromise to the authority of any power in which one does not believe.

-- Imam Jamil al-Amin, may he be granted justice

I am one of the many thousands of people who believe in Allah, recite His praises, avow His glory and majesty, and are strengthened by His bounty and support. I have come to know the Almighty through the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace. I read the Qur'an and I studied his biography; then I discovered my inner self harmonizing with his message. My heart and mind were refreshed by his call. Thus I became one of the vast multitude who have accepted Allah as their Lord, Islam as their way of life, and Muhammad as their guide and prophet.

-- Muhammad Ghazali, from 'Remembrance and Prayer'

O son of Adam, you're just days. Every time a day goes, a portion of you goes.

-- Hassan al Basri

Do not sell your conscience for anything but heaven.

-- attributed to Ali ra

Allah guards the justice loving government, even if it is the government of non-Muslims, and destroys the tyrant government, even if it is the government of Muslims.

-- Ibn Taymeeyah

You can rest assured, people of Kansas, we don't blow up buses. But we are people of Jihad, and Jihad is struggling in the way of Allah, to bring down the barriers of injustice that deprive humanity from realizing their true potential, which is to be slaves of Allah.

-- Sidi Hamza Yusuf

Do not seek other than contentment, because therein is the bliss and the comfort of your body. Consider the case of a person who possesses the whole world: Can he take with him in the grave more than cotton and a shroud?

-- a poet

To all who love and reverence the Book,

And earnestly strive to find in it,

Not a reflection of their own fancies,

But a clue to Unity, Discipline,

And the Call to higher matters of the spirit,

I dedicate this humble effort at Interpretation,

The fruit of my Life, Thought, and Study.

-- Abdullah Yusuf Ali, dedication upon translation of the Qur'an into English in 1934

How good is life in this world for a believer because he uses it to prepare his provisions for Paradise. And how evil it is for a disbeliever who uses it to prepare his provisions for Hell.

-- al Hassan

What you love to have with you in the Hereafter you should advance today, and what you hate to have with you, you should abandon today.

-- Salman ibn Dinar ra

O you who sin! Do not feel immune to punishment for your sins, for such attitude is a greater sin thant the original one. When you do not feel ashamed for yourselves before the two guardian angels who are situated at your right and left sides, that too is a more awesome sin than the original one. To laugh after committing a sin, not knowing what punishment is awaiting you is a more ominous sin as well. To feel excited about what you have gained by committing your sin is yet a greater sin. To feel sorrow for missing an opportunity to gain the forbidden fruit of a sin, is again a greater sin. To feel apprehensive, or afraid, when the wind blows against your window curtains, in fear of being exposed, is yet a greater sin, and when your heart does not shiver, and dismisses the knowledge that you are never away, not even for a fraction of a second, from the sight of Allah, the Lord of majesty and glory - that is yet a more awesome sin.

-- Abdullah ibn Abbas ra

I looked at all friends, and did not find a better friend than safeguarding the tongue. I thought about all dresses, but did not find a better dress than piety. I thought about all types of wealth, but did not find a better wealth than contentment in little. I thought of all types of good deeds, but did not find a better deed than offering good advice. I looked at all types of sustenance, but did not find a better sustenance than patience.

-- Umar ra

All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.

-- unknown

He who seeks knowledge of deen, Paradise seeks him. And he who seeks deeds of vice, Hell seeks him.

-- Ali ra

Life is nothing other than a road that leads to a garden, or to the fire. Its nights are a man's workshop, and its days are his market place.

-- from 'Purification of the Soul'

Perform well that which has been made compulsory for you, you will then be among the distinguished devotees. Refrain from that which has been prohibited, you will then be among the distinguished pious. Be content with those things that have been allotted for you by Allah, you will then be among the richest.

-- Ibn Mas'oud ra

He who has no manners has no knowledge; he who has no patience has no deen; and he who has no piety has no nearness to Allah.

-- Hasan al Basri

Woe unto you. What deceived you about me? Did you not know that I am a house of worms, a house of seperation, and a house of darkness? This is what I have prepared for you. What have you prepared for me?

-- what the grave says as soon as one is placed in it, according to Mujahid

These hearts are vessels. Fill them up with Qur'an and occupy them with nothing else.

-- Ibn Mas'oud ra

Knowledge is a comforting friend in times of loneliness, it is the best companion during travels, and it is the inner friend who speaks to you in your privacy. Knowledge is the discerning proof of what is right and what is wrong, and it is the positive force that will help you surmount the trials of comfort, as well as those of hardships. Knowledge is your most powerful sword against your enemy, and finally, it is your most dignifying raiment in the company of your close companions.

-- Mu'adh ibn Jabal ra

What can my enemies do to me? My paradise is in my heart, it is with me wherever I go. To imprison me is to provide me with seclusion. To send me into exile is to send me away in the Path of Allah. And to kill me is to make me a martyr.

-- Ibn Taymeeyah

If those who do not possess knowledge avoid the scholarly discussions, disagreement will end.

--Ghazali

His wisdom, farsightedness, perspicacity, presence of mind and resoluteness are evident in all that he said or did. From his streams of knowledge have sprung and heights of eloquence have arisen to which the great bend their heads in awe and wonder. He departed from this world satisfied with his work, assured of God's pleasure and crowned with the gratitude of men...

-- al Maraghi, sheikh of al-Azhar, on Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. In Haykal's Life of Muhammad.

The wise is not the one who differentiates good from bad. It is the one who differentiates the best out of two good choices and the worst out of two bad choices.

-- 'Amr ibn al 'Aas ra

Either you're a servant to what made man, or a servant to what man made

-- Soldiers of Allah (muslim rap group)

Praise be to God, alone in His majesty and His might, and unique in His sublimity and His everlastingness, who clips the wings of intellects well short of the glow of His glory, and who makes the way of knowing Him pass through the inability to know Him; who the tongues of the eloquent fall short of praising the beauty of His presence, unless they use the means by which He praises Himself, and use His names and attributes which He has enumerated.

-- Ghazali, from the introduction of 'the 99 Most Beautiful Names'.

He who enters the grave without the provision (of good deeds) is as he who started swimming across the ocean without a vessel.

-- Abu Bakr ra

Worldly Honor is derived from riches, and the honor of the Hereafter is derived from the performance of good deeds.

Umar ra

Do not censure something which has no immediate link to your interest. Forsake your enemies, and beware of your close companions, except for the trustworthy ones, for nothing equals the worth of a trustworthy companion. Do not mix with an insolent person lest he influences you with his contumelies. Never trust such a person with your secret, and solicit advice only from the God fearing people.

-- Umar ra

Remembrance of Allah is to the heart what water is to fish. What happens to a fish when it is taken out of water?

-- Ibn Taymeeyah

Had there not been these five qualities, all the people would be righteous: contentment with ignorance; love for worldly life; miserliness in spite of much wealth; ostentation in good deeds; and pride in one's own intelligence.

-- Ali ra

I know that societies often have killed people who have helped to change those societies. And if I can die having brought any light, having exposed any meaningful truth that will help destroy the racist cancer that is malignant in the body of America, then, all credit is due to Allah. Only the mistakes have been mine.

-- El Hajj Malik El Shabazz, aka Malcolm X, the last words in his autobiography

Why would I fear death when it will eventually seize me no doubt, and when what I truly fear is to become fuel for hell-fire. Hence, as long as I die a believer, it does not matter to me how it happens.

-- Khubaib, when he was told to choose between faith in Allah or death.

Death is teacher enough, true faith is wealth enough, and worship is action enough.

-- Ammar

Islam is not just a religion. Islam is everything.

-- Yusuf Islam

Truly in the heart there is a void that can not be removed except with the company of Allah. And in it there is a sadness that can not be removed except with the happiness of knowing Allah and being true to Him. And in it there is an emptiness that can not be filled except with love for Him and by turning to Him and always remembering Him. And if a person were given all of the world and what is in it, it would not fill this emptiness.

-- Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyya

Follow the coherence in your heart, beware of anything towards which it feels despondent, and disregard what it declines to

concur with. -- Ibn Mas'oud

This Quran can either be your blessed reward, or it can become your unwielding burden on the Day of Reckoning. Follow the Quran, and do not let the Quran follow you! For whosoever follows the Quran, it will lead him to the heavenly gardens of paradise; and whosoever is followed by the Quran, it will chase him and impel him into the abyss of the hellfire.

-- Abu Musa al-Ash'aari

Rectify three things by three other things until you become faithful (of the mu'minoon): pride by modesty, greed by contentment in little, and envy by listening to advice.

-- Malik ibn Dinar

There are three categories of people in this world: a learned, a student, and a useless dreg.

-- Abu Dhardah ra, from 'beauty of the righteous'

Surely I am not crying being attached to this world, but rather for the long journey awaiting me, and the little provisions I have prepared for it. This morning, I am descending upon either paradise or hell, and I have no idea towards which of the two I will be taken.

-- Abu Hurayrah ra, when asked about his tears on his death bed

If you don't wake up for fajr, don't wake up at all.

-- Sidi Hamza Yusuf

There are four things with which Allah is pleased - the external side of them is blessing and the inner side of them is compulsion. It is a blessing to associate with the pious servants of Allah (the salihoon), but it is a compulsion to follow them (in deeds). It is a blessing to recite the Qur`an, but it is compulsory to act according to it. It is a blessing to visit a grave, but it is a compulsion to make provisions for it. It is a blessing to take care of the sick, but it is a compulsion to take a lesson from it.

-- Umar ra

If you see a man competing with you with regard to this world, then compete with him in regards to the hereafter.

-- Hassan al Basri

There is no responsibility on us except conveying the truth.

-- Mawdudi

Four things are exceedingly difficult - to forgive while angry, to give alms during want, to abstain from sins in solitude, and to speak the truth before the person from whom may come fear or favor.

Ali ra

What destroyed earlier nations and lead to their annihilation was nothing but their love for the dinar and dirham, and it will unfailingly do the same to you.

-- Abu Musa al Ash'aaree

When the night is completely dark,

It finds them staying up in the night

Fear has chased away their sleep

So they stay up

While those who feel secure in this life

Quietly sleep on.

-- Ibn al-Mubarak, part of a poem from 'purification of the soul'

The tongue of the wise man is behind his heart and the heart of a fool is behind his tongue.

-- Ali ra

The righteous salaf were as fearful of their good deeds being squandered, or not being accepted, as the present generation is certain that their neglect would be forgiven.

-- Hasan al Basri

Praise be to Allah, whose wondrous works are proof against the arrows of illusion, from whose simplest marvels the minds of men reel, giddy and perplexed, and whose tender blessings- be they chosen or unsought- abound for all creatures without cease.

-- Ghazali

Whoever is not made glorified by taqwaa can find no glory.

-- Imam Shafii'i

Where are the bright ones, the handsome-looking ones, and where are those who took pride in their youthfulness, where have they gone? Where are the great kings who built cities and castles and fortified them with towering walls? What happened to the lionhearted valorous ones who made their enemy suffer humiliation in the battlefields? Time waned under their feet and they ended inside dark graves. Think of it and take heed.

-- Abu Bakr ra, from 'beauty of the righteous'

I have seen wrong actions killing hearts, and their degradation may lead to their becoming addicted to them. Turning away from wrong actions gives life to the hearts, and opposing yourself is best for it.

-- Ibn al Mubarak

I have known people and kept company with groups who neither rejoiced when the things of this world came to them, nor grieved when they lost anything in this world. The life of this world was more insignificant to them than dust. One of them might live for a year or for sixty years without ever having a garment that would entirely cover him, and without ever having anything that would come between him and the ground, and without ever having any food that he could ask to be prepared for him in his own home. When night came, they would be on their feet, with their foreheads flat against the earth, tears rolling down their cheeks, secretly calling on Allah to save them on the Day of Judgement. If they did something good, they never stopped being grateful for it, and they were always asking Allah to forgive them for it. By Allah, they were not safe from wrong actions, and were saved only by their constant turning in repentance. May Allah be pleased with them and grant them His mercy...

-- Hasan al Basri

I swear by Allah Who alone is God, it does not matter what adversities one may encounter during the day as long as he rises up in the morning in s a state of Islam, and winds up his day in the evening in a state of Islam, accepting and submitting to his Lord.

-- Ibn Mas'oud

They breed what they will ultimately bury, they build what will eventually be destroyed, they hold firm to what is ephemeral, and they forsake what is everlasting. Hence, blessed are the two cries people abominate most: death and poverty.

-- Abu Dharr ra, describing the people of the world.

O brother of the Tribe of Bani 'Abs, knowledge is an ocean, and surely ones span of life in this world is too short to encompass all of it, and no one can ever encompass all of it. Get the share of knowledge which is most advantageous for your religious success, and forgo the balance. You do not have to suffer its greater hardships.

-- Salman al Farisi ra to Hudhayfa ra, in 'beauty of the righteous'

Be content with what you have, be satisfied with your dwelling place to accommodate your enterprise, restrain your tongue, and shed tears of regret regarding past sins you committed knowingly, and those you do not recognize.

-- Ibn Mas'oud

This Qur'an guides you to the recognition of your illnesses and to their remedies. Your illnesses are your sins, and your medicine is seeking Allah's forgiveness.

-- Qatadah ra

No man gains full understanding and knowledge unless he detests all the people who are not close to Allah, and then turns his attention to his own self and detests it even more.

-- Abu Dharda ra

Have you seen anyone that has not been affected by the pitfalls of this world? And have you seen anyone that has not fallen sick? Have you seen any life that has not ended with death? The world beguiles and impedes, it is happiness leading to evil: it ruins those who crave for it and it harms those who benefit from it. Its seeker who laughs it will make cry and those who rejoice with its peace it will destroy. They will regret their slips when they strive to achieve it. They will remain hostage to its fears and apprehensions. They will wish to live just an hour longer…

-- Ibn al Jawzi

Learn how to exercise patience, for your turn of trials has drawn near. However, no matter how much difficulty you meet, they cannot measure to the awesome adversities we experienced at the dawn of Islam alongside God's messenger (peace be upon him)

-- Hudhayfah ra

-- Umar ra

Weep, and if you cannot weep, then pretend to weep. I swear by Him in Whose hand my life is, that if any of you really knew, you would plead until your voice went, and pray until your back was broken.

-- 'Amr ibn al 'Aas

Ikhlaas is to forget the vision of creation by constantly looking at the Creator.

-- Abu Uthman

The people destined for the Fire will be ordered to come towards Paradise until they come close to it and smell its fragrance, see its palaces and what Allah has prepared in it for its people. Then an announcement will be made (to the angels) that they be turned away from it. There will be no portion for them in it. They will return in loss and ruin just like the ones before them who were also commanded likewise. Then they will say: "O our Lord. If you had entered us into the Fire before You showed us what You have shown us from Your reward, and what You have prepared for you friends and allies, it would have been easier upon us."

Then the Exalted will say: "This is what I intended with you. When you used to be alone you would show boldness to Me with grave sins, and when you used to meet people you would meet them with humility. You would show to people other than that which you used to give Me from your hearts. You feared people but you did not fear Me. You honored people but you did not honor Me, you abandoned actions for people but you did not abandon actions for Me. This day therefore, will I make you taste a tormenting punishment, along with your prevention from receiving that reward."

-- Ibn Haatim

O son of Adam, leaving sins is much easier than administering repentance.

-- Hassan al Basri

A believer finds no comfort except in meeting his Lord, thus, should he experience such comfort, it means that he has attained that goal.

-- Ibn Mas'oud

One who desires to enter heavenly paradise must have constancy of purpose.

-- Abu Dharr ra

Live for this life as though you live in it forever and live for the life to come as though you die tomorrow

-- 'Amr ibn al 'Aas

They can bomb our lands, they can dance with their tanks on our bodies, but they can't kill the spirit of freedom in our hearts.

-- Jevher Dudayev, Chechen leader, martyr, may Allah grant him mercy.

Be the fountainhead of knowledge and the candlelight of the night, and even if you were raggedly clothed, always have renewed hearts. This will make you distinguished in the heavens, and you will always be remembered on earth.

-- Ali ra

The journey of those who seek Allah ends with them overcoming their selves, because whoever triumphs over his self succeeds and wins, and whoever has his self triumph over him loses.

-- "some of those who know", from 'Purification of the Soul'

I know about a hundred of the attributes of goodness, and yet I cannot even find one of them in my self.

-- Yunus ibn Ubayd

Knowledge rests upon action, action rests upon sincerity, and sincerity to Allah brings about understanding of Allah the Mighty and Majestic.

-- one of the salaf

Endurance, patience, and perseverance are what constitute the bravery of the self.

-- Purification of the Soul, p90.

O soul, watch out! Help me with your striving

In the darkness of the nights,

So that on the Day of Resurrection

You will win a good life on those heights.

-- from 'purufication of the soul'

A declaration of faith is meaningless without corresponding deeds; declaration and deeds are only real if based on sincere intentions; and declarations, deeds, and intentions are only correct if they agree with the sunnah.

-- Sufyan ath Thawree

Hold firm to tawbaa for it will protect you from that which your swords will not

-- Fudayl ibn Iyadh ra to the mujahideen before battle

Do not anticipate the evening in the morning, nor the morning in the evening. Take advantage of your health before sickness comes and of your life before death.

-- Ibn Umar

Life is nothing but an accumulation of many breaths. So every breath is just a precious diamond which cannot be purchased with anything in the world. It is a priceless jewel which has no substitute in value. So in movements and talks, and in sorrows and happiness, such a priceless breath should not be spent in vain. To destroy it is to court destruction. An intelligent man cannot lose it. When a man gets up at dawn, he should enter into an agreement with himself just as a tradesman contracts with his partner. At that time, he should address his mind thus: O mind, you have been given no other property as precious as life. When it will end, the principal will end and despondency will come in seeking profit in business. Today is a new day. Allah has given you time, He has delayed your death. He has bestowed upon you innumerable gifts. Think that you are already dead. Don't waste time. Every breath is a precious jewel. Man has for each day and night twenty-four treasure houses in twenty-four hours. Fill up these, then you will find them filled with divine sights in the world next. If they are not filled up with good works, they will be filled up with intense darkness wherefrom a bad stench will come out and envelop them all around. Another treasure house will neither give him happiness nor sorrow - that is an hour in which he slept, or was careless, or was engaged in any lawful work of this world - he will feel grieved for its remaining vacant.

-- Ghazali

The damage caused to every servant lies in his being pleased with himself. Whoever looks at his soul and sees something in it which he deems to be good has caused its destruction. And whoever does not suspect his soul at every single moment is one who is deceived.

-- one of the salaf

We live in the ultimate age of illusion. Evil not only struts about defiantly, it has the audacity to call itself good.

-- Arshad (a good friend of mine :)