A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote Sharh al-Hikam ‘Atha’illah , a commentary on Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) Hikam .   Regarding Shaykh ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) statement, “Whoever’s beginning shines, his ending also shines,” Imam ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote, “This is another way of saying something similar to what has just passed.  The shining of the disciple’s beginning is through his returning to Allah ( s.w.t. ) in his important affairs and relying on Him in his misfortunes.  The shining in his ending is reaching closeness to Him and coming into His Presence.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote Sharh al-Hikam ‘Atha’illah , a commentary on Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) Hikam .   Regarding Shaykh ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) statement, “Perhaps your state is bad, but appears to you to be good because your companion is even worse than you,” Imam ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote, “This hikmah notes the greatest of the calamities that can enter the heart of the person who goes against what we have previously mentioned - who goes ahead and accompanies someone whose state is lower than his.  This calamity is to find the state one is in agreeable, which causes the person to be pleased with himself by seeing its presumed well-being.  As we mentioned before, this act is the root of all evil.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote Sharh al-Hikam ‘Atha’illah , a commentary on Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) Hikam .   Regarding Shaykh ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) statement, “Light reveals, insight judges, and the heart approached or turned away,” Imam ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote, “These three differing terms are used to convey three distinct ideas.  Light helps remove the veil from unseen spiritual things until they become clear and are viewable.  Insight helps to judge the correctness of what is viewed.  Finally, the heart can approach by acting by what insight sees or it can draw back by not acting by what insight sees.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote Sharh al-Hikam ‘Atha’illah , a commentary on Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) Hikam .   Regarding Shaykh ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) statement, “He only makes spiritual experiences come over you so that with them you may come to Him,” Imam ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) explained, “A spiritual experience is what comes to the heart concerning Divine Knowledge and spiritual subtleties to purify the heart and cleanse it until it is fit for entering Allah’s Presence.  This is because the Divine Presence is unreachable by hearts made turbid by created things and stained with the filth of others.  Thus, He Only Made the spiritual experience come to you so that you may with it come.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote Sharh al-Hikam ‘Atha’illah , a commentary on Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) Hikam .   Shaykh ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari ( q.s. ) wrote,   “How can it be imagined that something could veil Him while He Manifests everything? How can it be imagined that something could veil Him while He Appears through everything? How can it be imagined that something could veil Him while He is Evident in everything? How can it be imagined that something could veil Him while He is Apparent to everything? How can it be imagined that something could veil Him while He is the Manifest before the existence of everything? How can it be imagined that something could veil Him while he is more Evident than anything? How can it be imagined that something could veil Him while He is the One alongside Whom is n...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote Sharh al-Hikam ‘Atha’illah , a commentary on Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) Hikam .   Shaykh ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari ( q.s. ) wrote, “How shall Divine Light shine upon a heart whose mirror is stamped with the impressions of Created things?  Or how shall it travel to Allah ( s.w.t. ) while chained in its lusts?  Or how shall it wish to enter the Presence of Allah ( s.w.t. ) while uncleansed from the impurity of forgetfulness of Him?  Or how shall it hope to understand subtle secrets while having not repented from its mistakes?”   Imam ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) expounded, “It is impossible to bring two mutually exclusive opposites together.  Such as trying to unify movement and stillness or light and darkness.  These things that the author has mentioned are oppo...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote Sharh al-Hikam ‘Atha’illah , a commentary on Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) Hikam .   In response to Shaykh ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) comment, “Spiritual illuminations are the riding platforms of hearts and innermost beings”, he wrote, “The lights of faith and certainty are vehicles, which carry the innermost beings and hearts to the presence of the Knower of the Unseen.  These are the aforementioned spiritual experiences.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote Sharh al-Hikam ‘Atha’illah , a commentary on Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) Hikam .   Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari ( q.s. ) said, “Among the signs of the heart’s death is leaving sadness over missed acts of obedience and leaving regret over slips into disobedience.”   Imam ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote that when the heart is alive with faith, it feels sad about the acts of obedience that it misses and regrets the slips into disobedience it experiences.  This also dictates the presence of happiness when one is Used by Allah ( s.w.t. ) for acts of obedience from evil acts of disobedience.  It has been narrated in a hadits , “Whoever’s good deed make him happy and bad deeds make him sad, he is the believer.”  This is re...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote Sharh al-Hikam ‘Atha’illah , a commentary on Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) Hikam .   On Shaykh ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) statement, “No action is more likely to be accepted than that which you become absent from and whose presence you deem insignificant,” Imam ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) commented that the manuscripts he read had, “No action is more likely to benefit hearts than that which you become absent from and whose presence you deem insignificant.”   He said that the meaning of this version is that the heart does not turn towards nor consider significant the action described by what Shaykh ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari ( q.s. ) mentioned.   In not turning towards it and disregarding it, the heart remains proper and is free the slavery of seeing the action. ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abi Ishaq Ibrahim ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( q.s. ) said, “Know that as long as you have an aspiration and a will, you are still on the Path and have not yet arrived.  Once you have become extinct to your aspiration and will, you will have arrived.  One of the pious predecessors said that to arrive means to see nothing but one’s Creator; one who has any thought for anything but his Maker has not yet arrived.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari ( q.s. ) said, “People praise you for what they imagine you are, so be sure that you blame yourself for what you know you are.”   Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( q.s. ) commented. “For a servant to blame himself and look at himself with disgust for the faults and defects that he knows he possesses is something that is sought from him because it helps him avoid having delusions about himself, which, in turn, allows him to improve his good deeds and his spiritual states.   If he does not look at himself in this manner, people’s praise will cause his deeds and states to wither away.”   The awliya’ have said that whoever rejoices when others praise him has allowed Shaythan to come into him.   If someone tells you what a wonderful person you are and you love this more than for them to tell you what an a...