Determination can overcome unsurmountable barriers. Determination is the fuel that propels one to higher virtues. Higher goals are not achieved through dreaming or fantasizing, they can only be reached through dedication and commitment.
There is no salvation like the heart's salvation, given that all the limbs respond to its desires. Therefore, knowledge of the heart's ailments, what causes each of them and what removes them, is an obligation on everyone.
The first step to improvement, whether mental, moral, or religious, is to know ourselves-----our weaknesses, errors, deficiencies, and sins, that, by divine grace, we may overcome and turn from them all. To know one's self is the true; to strive with one's self is the good; to conquer one's self is the beautiful.
Prayer is essential. Prayer cuts through and clarifies. Prayer reminds us of what is really important. Prayer awakens our awareness to our legitimate needs. Prayer is the great friend who introduces us to ourselves. Prayer is the great mediator that introduces us to Allah. Prayer is the faithful friend who points out who we are and who we are capable of being. Prayer reveals the deepest desires of our hearts and points out the path that was ordained for us from the beginning of time.
Prayer gifts us with purpose and direction, and peace in that direction. Prayer is a journey and a destination. Prayer is a chance to become intimately familiar with the better person we know we can be------and that familiarity is the beginning of wisdom. Prayer helps. Prayer is important. Prayer is needed. We need prayer. Prayer doesn't need us, and Allah doesn't need prayer. Prayer doesn't help Allah, it helps us. It isn't something we must do, it is something we should do. Pray!!! [Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]
Flee to the shelter of Allah's grace. He showers our souls with His grace. When He provides shelter, how can you lack shelter? Fear not; water and fire will become your army. Did the sea not help Noah and Moses? Did it not seek vengeance upon their foes? Was not the fire a fortress for Abraham? Did it not raise the smoke of despair in the heart of Nimrod?
Good fortune will come to you only as you give. If you cannot renounce life completely you can at least free yourself from the love of riches and honors.
Image or light, that is the question. We tend to spend our lives dedicated to the image, to the material. The image represents the body. The light represents the spirit. Do you identify more with your body or with your spirit? The highest levels of living are experienced when we have an absolute disregard for the body beyond our basic needs and a complete adherence to the promptings of the Divine Spirit within us. It is then that we form our identity from the spirit within, when we let the sweet light within us shine. A person who is completely dedicated to the light is capable of anything. Prayer shifts our dedication from the image to the light.
We want to live in peace. Without peace life is a drudgery. Peace is the fruit of an intimate harmony among the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual elements of the human person. Peace is not the absence of pain or pressure. Nor is it the absence of activity. Peace is not lying on a beach without a worry in the world. Peace is not born by doing nothing. This peace I speak of is a certainty in my heart and mind that I am using my life for the worthy purpose--------that each day I am able to love more than the day before, that I am becoming a better person each day, that in my own way I am touching and improving the lives of others. It is maintained with the conviction that the way I am spending the energies of my life makes sense.
Patience comes in three stages: first, one learns not to follow the baser self; second, one learns to content oneself with one's fate; finally, one surrenders oneself to the Master's will and discovers within love and compassion, the greatest of all achievements.
Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself. Never spend your money before you have it. Never buy what you do not need.
Allah has a water container in the earth, which is the heart. The hearts that Allah likes most are those which are the strongest, the purest, and the softest--------strongest in religion, purest in trust, and softest towards one's brother.
Reading opens the mind, guides one to correct morals and sharpens one's ability to think. Reading is a comfort for the lonely, a stimulant for the thinker, and a lamp for the traveler. To not read makes one limited in one's speech, thinking, and personality.
1. When the inward is good the outward is also inevitably so, for the outward follows the inward, whether for good or evil.
2. Prove the sincerity of your respect for the Qur'an by putting its teachings into practice, not by arguing about it.
3. You must fill your time with worship so that no period of time elapses whether by night or by day, without being used in some act of goodness.
4. Good character consists in three traits: avoiding that which is forbidden, seeking that which is permitted, and being generous.
5. Whoever busies himself with that which does not concern him, then he misses out on much of that which does concern him.
6. If we spend our time paying attention to the wisdom of our heart rather than the wisdom of our head, we will benefit greatly.
7. Love is always the answer to every question and problem. We are here to love and be loved and learn a few things in the process.
8. To begin anew, we must say good-bye to who we once were.
9. Have the courage to begin the new life that each day brings you. No matter what changes and losses you have experienced, step back and see where you need to begin.
10. How do we find joy in our lives? Too often it comes at a significant price. You learn that you are mortal and suddenly what used to seem important isn't. Things that used to bother you don't anymore. What then becomes significant are the people who you love and who love you.
Three things of life once gone never come back-----time, words, and opportunities. Three things of life must not be lost-----peace, hope and honesty. Three things of life are very valuable------Love, confidence, and friends.
Allah's love for us manifests itself in His giving us the ability to know what kind of actions, what kind of life, will lead us to salvation and felicity; and how to save ourselves from things that are against our birthright, our nature, and our reason for being in this world.
This cannot be undone and I am sure it will be greatly appreciated.
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