Why You Should Keep a Few Close Friends
Translation from Ibn al-Jawzi's Sayd Al-Khatir (Quarry of the Mind) | Friends and Others
Tag: ibn al jawzi
Translation from Ibn Al-Jawzi’s Sayd Al-Khatir (Quarry of the Mind) | Taking the Side of Allah
THE RATIONAL MAN is careful to uphold the positions of Allah even when it angers people. For he who takes the side of another at the price of the rights of the Creator, Allah turns the heart of the one he sought…
Translation from Ibn Al-Jawzi’s Sayd Al-Khatir (Quarry of the Mind) | From the Stories of Life
The Wages of Youth I STUDIED THE conditions of people who attain glory or wealth. That’s just when the downfall of most comes. Behold the youthful among them: How excessive grows their sinful behavior; how neglectful they are of their chance for…
Translation from Ibn Al-Jawzi’s Sayd Al-Khatir (Quarry of the Mind) | The Struggle Against Desirous Whim
I HAVE SEEN that the inclination of the ‘self’ toward what it desires tends to grow in intensity, until it leans forward to so great an extent that it pulls with it the heart, the rationality, and the mind of a person,…
Translation from Ibn Al-Jawzi’s Sayd Al-Khatir (Quarry of the Mind) | The Veil of Life
A THOUGHT OCCURRED to me in a religious gathering—when the sitting became pleasurable, and the hearts were present, and the eyes were flowing, and the heads were bowed, and the souls felt remorse for their negligence, and the resolution to fix their…
Translation from Ibn Al-Jawzi’s Sayd Al-Khatir (Quarry of the Mind) | Judging with Deliberation
THE MOST IDIOTIC of people is the one who acts according to the present situation and neither envisions change nor anticipates possible scenarios. Take, for example, one who is deluded by political power. He acts according to his desires relying on his…
Translation from Ibn Al-Jawzi’s Sayd Al-Khatir (Quarry of the Mind) | Management of the Self
THE STRUGGLE WITH one’s nafs, or self, is the strangest of things. This is because it requires a surprising talent. Now, some people give free reign to their nufûs, that is, they “let themselves go” to whatever they love. This yields the…
Translation from Ibn Al-Jawzi’s Sayd Al-Khatir (Quarry of the Mind) | The Nobility of Man
I NEVER CEASE to marvel at those who think that the angels are better than the prophets and friends of Allah (awliyâ’, sing. walî). If they claim that the angels are better based on their appearance, then the appearance of man is…
Translation from Ibn Al-Jawzi’s Sayd Al-Khatir (Quarry of the Mind) | Prophets—True and False
TRUTH IS NEVER confused with falsehood. It is only that falsehood plays a trick on the minds of those who have no understanding. The same applies to those who claim prophethood or miracles. As for prophethood, the fact is, many lay claim…
Translation from Ibn Al-Jawzi’s Sayd Al-Khatir (Quarry of the Mind) | Praiseworthy Heedlessness
ONE DAY, WE attended the burial of a young man. He had died when life was at its best for him. As we were waiting for the grave to be prepared I beheld the funeral goers engaged in much denouncement of the…