Remembrance of Allah — Page 72
72 13. THE THIRTEENTH METHOD has such excellence that not only does it greatly assist and help in getting up for Tahajjud, but by acting upon it, man is also saved from many sins and evils. And that is, before going to sleep, we should observe whether there is any malice or rancour in our hearts against anyone. And if there is, we should banish it from our heart. The result of this will be that the purification of the soul achieved in this way will grant you the ability to get up for Tahajjud. Even though these kinds of thoughts may again overpower the person, they must be expelled from the heart before going to sleep at night and the heart must be cleared completely. What harm is there in doing this? If one considers that there is some worldly benefit in these thoughts, then he should tell his heart to remember them again during the day. There is no fighting to do while sleeping at night for which they should be kept in the heart. Firstly, what will happen is that once a thought is uprooted from the heart, it will not even come again. Secondly, one is safeguarded from the damage that a person could suffer from harbouring such thoughts. It is a proven fact that the longer something stays with another, the greater is the effect that it leaves. For example, if you wipe something with a wet sponge quickly, it will become moistened just a little, but if you leave the wet sponge upon it for quite some time, it will become fully soaked. Similarly, the thoughts that linger with a person for a long time will become deeply absorbed in his heart, and the thoughts that one keeps in his heart while sleeping, his spirit will continue to repeat them throughout the night. Such thoughts cannot do as much harm during the day as