Pitter and patter
In the last third of the night
Pouring torrents,
A breathtaking sight
Lightning and thunder,
Signs of His Might
The bedrooms are dark,
But the hearts are alight
Tearful supplications,
To be guided aright
Cheeks are soaked,
Like the earth outside
Iman swelling,
As if the high tide
If the skies weep in His fear,
My eyes shall do the same
May the sins be washed away,
In the late night rains
Talks are plenty, words are in abundance, what’s actually lacking is the true sincere action.
O’ Allaah, don’t put us into trial with our words and make us people of real action
A believer never enjoys his sin, never finds his delight completed. Rather, even while committing the sin his heart is faced with grief, though the intoxication of desire covers up his feeling of it.
If the heart ever becomes void of this remorseful ache and the joy of sinning overpowers any feeling of remorse, then one should doubt one's faith, and cry over the death of his heart.
Were the heart alive, the committing of sin would make it sad, upbraid and constrict it, and it would sense it.
A wound, after all, does not cause pain to a corpse.
[ Madarij al-Salikin ] Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzi
The heart grows rusty due two things: through heedlessness and sins.
It is cleansed by way of two things: Seeking forgiveness and the remembrance of Alläh.
Remembrance of the most merciful Imãm ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (d. 751H) | P.no. 111
When Al Junayd Al Baghdadi رحمه الله died, the people saw him in a dream, and they asked him, what did Allah do to you? How was your standing before Allah? He said,
“All those fancy expressions we used to say have disappeared, and all of those complicated words have gone, and all of those sciences we used to teach have disappeared, and nothing benefited us on this day except for a few units of prayer that we used to pray at night”
The path of Tawhīd is not always an easy path:
People distance them self from you, because they hear something new, they see that not a lot of people agree with you, they think 'how can this be the truth when most people don't follow it?'... So al-Ghurbah (strangeness) is the result: From brothers being refused in marriage because of their ʿAqīdah to brothers being physically attacked, to brothers losing all their friends and maybe even family, to sisters being isolated in families who have fallen into disbelief, to sisters not finding a Muwahhid husband to protect them... again, it is not an easy path, but wallāh, all of this is nothing, for it is the best Path. It is a sweet path, a clear path and a straight path: the Path of the Prophets. So, hold onto the Path of Ibrāhīm and the Āthār, and smile, for wallāh, you have the best you can get in this world!
Ibn Rajab رحمه الله said:
يا من ضاع عمره لا شيء استدرك ما فاتك في ليلة القدر فإنها تحسب بالعمر.
O you who have wasted your life, nothing can make up for what you’ve lost except the Night of Decree (Laylatul Qadr), for indeed, its value is equal to a lifetime.
(191)كتاب لطائف المعارف فيما لمواسم العام من الوظائف - ط ابن حزم
Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه اللّٰه :
"Each time a charitable person gives, he feels his heart expanding and his breath relieved, as if a robe of iron were loosening for him.
Whenever he gives, it loosens, relaxes and expands; his happiness grows even stronger and his joy increases."
[The Invocation of God | Pg. 38]
وغادرنا سفول الليل قاصرا
فلا نمنا ولا ذقنا الأمان
وأعوام مضت والعين تبكي
جميعا كلنا في الأسري عاناه
مطاعهم لعل القلب يحنو
ونسرخ تحت وطئتهم كفانا
ولكن القلوب غدت حديدا
وفيها الحقد قد بلغ العلامه
حياة كلها قهر وظلٌ
الا يا موت زرنا في ضحانا
اما والله لا ارهاب فينا
وعار ان تصدق ايا اخانا
While discussing the merits of the second half of Ramadan, ibn Rajab al-Hanbali mentioned the following more general point:
[كل زمان فاضل من ليل أو نهار فإن آخره أفضل من أوله كيوم عرفة ويوم الجمعة وكذلك الليل والنهار عموما آخره أفضل من أوله ولذلك كانت الصلاة الوسطى صلاة العصر كما دلت الأحاديث الصحيحة عليه وآثار السلف الكثيرة تدل عليه ]
"For every virtuous time – whether it be in the day or the night – its latter part is more virtuous than its earlier part. Take for example the day of ‘Arafah and the day of Jumu’ah. Likewise, this applies to the night and day generally speaking, that the latter part is more virtuous than the earlier part. That is why “the middle prayer” is the ‘Asr prayer, as is indicated by authentic hadith narrations, and a great number of statements from the salaf also support this."
[Lataa'if al-Maraa'if pg. 176]