"Every blessing that does not bring you closer to Allah is a disaster." - Abu Hazim
"Light is light to the one who sees. What does the blind understand of light?" - Rumi
"A calamity that makes you turn to Allah is better for you than a blessing which makes you forget the remembrance of Allah." - Ibn Taymiyah
"As long as you are performing prayer, you are knocking at the door of Allah, and whoever is knocking at the door of Allah, Allah will open it for him." - Ibn al-Qayyim
"Yearning for Allah and His meeting is like the gentle breeze blowing upon the heart, extinguishing the blaze of the Dunya. Whosoever caused his heart to settle with his Lord shall be in a state, calm and tranquility, and whosoever sent it amongst the people shall be disturbed and excessively perturbed." - Ibn al-Qayyim
"The contemplative believer who remembers God will begin to enjoy solitude and places of seclusion where voices and movements are hushed… There he will find strength of heart and will, and he will no longer be worried or depressed… Then he will begin to taste the sweetness of worship, of which he cannot have enough. In it, he will find abundance of pleasure and comfort – more than what he used to find in diversion and play, or in the satisfaction of worldly desires…When he experiences this state, many of the worldly concerns will disappear, as he is in a completely different world from the rest of humanity." - Ibn al-Qayyim
"It is well known that man has not been given to power to kill his thoughts nor the strength to severe them. They invade him just as his breathing invades his body. However the strength of Iman and intellect helps him to accept his best thoughts , to be pleased with them, to experience peace and tranquility from them. It also helps him to repulse his most evil thoughts and dislike and recoil from them. Allah created the soul similar to a grinding stone that goes round and round – one that does not stop; and always in need of something to grind. If seeds are placed therein it will grind them. If stones are placed therein it will still grind them. So the thoughts that revolve in the soul are like a seed that is placed in a grinding stone. That grinding stone is never left idle. Something or the other has to be placed inside it. So from amongst the people are those whose grinding stone grinds seeds which comes out as flour – which he and others derive benefit from. But most of them grind soil, stones, straw and so forth – so when the time of making the dough and baking comes; he sees the reality of what he ground." - Ibn al-Qayyim
"Love of Allah...
It is a stage that all of those who are striving and competing are competing for it and it is a kind of life that if you are missing it you are one of the dead. It is a light that if you are without it you are in and ocean of darkness. It is a medicine or cure that if you are without it, your heart becomes a place of sicknesses. It is a sweetness or pleasure that if you are without it, life becomes a thing of worries and of pain." - Ibn al-Qayyim
"O people who take pleasure in a life that will vanish, falling in love with a fading shadow is sheer stupidity." - Ibn al-Qayyim
"Sincerity cannot coexist in a heart that contains the love of praise and commendation and the yearning to possess that which is owned by the people save in the manner that fire and water or a lizard and fish may coexist. If your soul directs you to seek sincerity then first turn your attention towards your yearning and slaughter it with the knife of renunciation. Then turn your attention towards praise and commendation and forsake it with the asceticism of those who loved the world for the sake of the Hereafter. When your slaughtering of your yearning and the renunciation of praise and commendation becomes firm then attaining sincerity will become easy for you." - Ibn al-Qayyim
"The keys to the life of the heart lie in reflecting upon the Qur‘aan , being humble before Allaah in secret, and leaving sins." - Ibn al-Qayyim
"And verily for everything that a slave loses there is a substitute, but the one who loses Allah will never find anything to replace Him." - Ibn al-Qayyim
"Deeds without sincerity are like a traveler who carries in his water-jug dirt. The carrying of it burdens him and it brings no benefit." - Ibn al-Qayyim
"The slave is not afflicted with a punishment greater than the hardening of the heart and being distant from Allah. For the Fire was created to melt the hardened heart. The most distant heart from Allah is the heart which is hardened. If the heart becomes hardened, the eye becomes dry." - Ibn al-Qayyim
"Doubtless, a heart grows tarnished like brass or silver, and its polish is by remembrance, which may make it shine like a crystal mirror. So when one neglects the remembrance it tarnishes, and when he returns it shines. Since the heart is tarnished by two things - heedlessness and sin - it is polished by two things: remembrance and asking forgivenes." - Ibn al-Qayyim
"This world is like a shadow, run after it and you will never be able to catch it, turn your back against it and it has no choice but to follow you." - Ibn al-Qayyim
"Every gulp of air that goes out in a cause other than the cause of Allah will turn to sorrow and regret on the Day of Judgement." - Ibn al-Qayyim
"Speech remains as a slave to you, but the moment it leaves your mouth, you become its slave." - Ibn al-Qayyim
"Whoever wishes to purify his heart, then let him prefer Allah to his desires." - Ibn al-Qayyim
"Wasting time is worse than death, because death separates you from this world whereas wasting time separates you from Allah." - Ibn al-Qayyim
"Renew your heart with the remembrance of Allah because it rushes into forgetfulness." - Yahya ibn Mu'adh
"Do not detest the misfortunes that befall you, for what you detest may be the cause of your salvation and what you like may be the cause of your ruin." - Hasan al-Basri
"The righteous salaf were as fearful of their good deeds being squandered or not being accepted, as the present generation is certain their neglect will be forgiven." - Hasan al-Basri
"In the life of this world the believer is like a captive, doing his best to free himself, and not feeling any security until he meets the All-Mighty Allah." - Hasan al-Basri
"The one whose wealth increases, his sins increase likewise, and who talks much, lies much, and the ill tempered man torments himself." - Hasan al-Basri
"The world is three days: As for yesterday, it has vanished, along with all that was in it. As for tomorrow, you may never see it. As for today, it is yours, so work in it." - Hasan al-Basri
"Whomever Allah gives provision and he thinks that Allah is not testing him, has no wisdom. Whomever has little provision and thinks that Allah will not look at (provide for) him, has no wisdom." - Hasan al-Basri
"I am astonished about those people who are ordered to prepare their provisions, then the start of the journey is announced, however they remain unmindful in their vain discussions and fruitless deeds." - Hasan al-Basri
"I swear by Him in whose Hands my life is, I know some people for whom the life of this world is lower than the dust they walk on." - Hasan al-Basri
"The people who will have the easiest reckoning on the Day of Resurrection are those who have done the reckoning of themselves in the life of this world, who have considered well their deeds and intentions, completed what is for Allah's sake and abstained from what is not. And the reckoning will be heavy for those who jeopardize their religious duties in the life of this world and make no reckoning of themselves, because they will discover that the All-Mighty Allah has recorded even the weight of an atom of their deeds, the All-Mighty Allah says: (...They will say: "Woe to us! What sort of Book is this that leaves neither a small thing nor a big thing, but has recorded it with numbers!" And they will find all that they did, placed before them, and your Rabb treats no one with injustice.) (Qur'an 18:49)" - Hasan al-Basri
"Who is going to cry more than the others on the Day of Resurrection?- A man on whom Allah has bestowed His Grace and who uses that for Allah's disobedience." - Hasan al-Basri
"Beware of the diversions of this world, which are many. If a man opens a door for diversions, then that door may open ten others." - Hasan al-Basri
"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." - Hasan al-Basri
"Know that it is with ilm (knowledge) that you must speak, and that it is with Hilm (forbearance) that you must remain silent." - Umar ibn al-Khattab
"I looked at all friends, and did not find a better friend than safeguarding the tongue. I thought about all the dresses but did not find a better dress than piety. I thought about all kinds of wealth, but did not find a better wealth than contentment in a little. I thought of all sorts 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 ibn al-Khattab
"Knowledge is not measured by how much is memorized, but rather by how much it is acted on." - Imam al-Shafi'i
"Knowledge is that which benefits, not that which is memorized" - Imam al-Shafi'i
"The foolish one addresses me with words of disgrace, but I hate to respond to him in a similar manner. The more ignorant he proves, the more patient I become. Just like the incense; the more it's burnt, the more it releases its fragrance." - Imam al-Shafi'i
"When it comes to my provisions, I rely upon Allah, my Creator; And I know with certainty that He will no doubt provide for me. Whatever is in my due, will not pass me by, Even if it were to be in the depths of the sea. Allah the Exalted will bring it forth by His Grace, Even if I were to remain silent over it. So, what can a soul feel sorrow over, When the Most Merciful has set the provisions of the creation?" - Imam al-Shafi'i
"By Allah, if I were told that even drinking cold water took away from my manhood, I would not drink it except while it was hot." - Imam al-Shafi'i
"To admonish your brother in private is to advise him and improve him. But to admonish him publicly is to disgrace and shame him." - Imam al-Shafi'i
"O my soul! It is not, except a few days of patience; As if the extent were but a few dreams. O my soul! Pass quickly on through this world; And leave it, for indeed life lies ahead of it." - Imam al-Shafi'i
"If you fear falling into conceit through your deeds, remember whose pleasure you seek (that is Allah), what kind of grace you are looking for, and what kind of punishment you are afraid of. So, if you remember all these, your pious deeds will look small in your eyes." - Imam al-Shafi'i
“I never debated with a knowledgeable person except that I won the debate, and I have never debated with an ignorant person except that I lost.” - Imam al-Shafi'i
"No calamity befalls a Muslim but that Allah expiates some of his sins because of it, even though it were the prick he receives from a thorn." - Prophet Muhammad (as reported in Bukhari)
"The affair of the believer is amazing! The whole of his life is beneficial, and that is only in the case of the believer. When good times come to him, he is thankful and it is good for him, and when bad times befall him, he is patient and it is also good for him." - Prophet Muhammad (as reported in Muslim)
"The Quran is either proof for you or against you." - Prophet Muhammad (as reported in Sahih Muslim)
"Bear in mind that if all the people combine together to grant you some benefit, they would not be able to do so except that which Allah has determined for you and that if all of them were combined together to harm you, they would not be able to do so except that which Allah has determined for you. The pens have been set aside and the writings of the book of fate have become dry." - Prophet Muhammad (as reported in Tirmidhi)
"The believers most perfect in faith are those best in character and gentlest to their families." - Prophet Muhammad (as reported in Tirmidhi)
"A slave of Allah will remain standing on the Day of Judgement until he is questioned about four things: his life on earth and how he spent it, his knowledge and how he utilised it, his wealth and how he acquired it and in what way he spent it, and his body and how he wore it out." - Prophet Muhammad (as reported in Tirmidhi)
"The intelligent person is he who humbles himself in the presence of those who are older than him saying ‘He has surpassed me in Islam’ and in front of those who are younger than him saying ‘I have surpassed him in sins’." - Ibn Hibban
"Asceticism is not that you should not own anything, but that nothing should own you." - Ali ibn Abu Talib
"Everyone who is taken by death asks for more time, while everyone who still has time makes excuses for procrastination." - Ali ibn Abu Talib
"A moment of patience in a moment of anger prevents a thousand moments of regret." - Ali ibn Abu Talib
"Many people really do not love the person whom they claim to love rather they love the idea of love" - Sheikh Yasir Fazaga
