Hallmarks of the Saints — Page 18
18 HALLMARKS OF THE SAINTS منها الخزال وإذهال، وإلى الله إرْقال، وفي ذكره از مغلال. هم قوم يحسبون أن الدنيا زبال، وإزعالُ النفس به ضلال، وإنها مُدَّى يُذبح بها وطالبوها سخال، وماؤها ضهل وطعامها اغتيال، وسيرتها الإعراض كمُفيلةٍ وصورتها كَحْل ما بقي فيه جمالٌ، وأوّلُها أَوْنٌ وآخرها اقْذِعْلالٌ. لا تجد كمثلها قرزلاً، وإنها زقوم فلا تحسبها قُعالاً، ولذلك سَلَّ عليها عباد الرحمن سيفًا قَصّالاً، وما أخذوها بيديهم is [the bounty] from their Lord since they detach themselves from the world and forget it. In fact, they rush towards Allah and their tears continually flow in His remembrance. They are the peo- ple who consider this world to be as negligible as the amount a tiny ant can lift with its mouth. Since inciting the soul for this [material world] is misguidance, wherefore these are those knives through which the [sacrificial] slaughter is made. Its [the world's] seekers are lambs [which need to be slaughtered]; its water is little and its food is fatal. The world is like a woman who is in the habit of refusing her husband under the pretext of menstruation. Its face is like a with- ered old man who has completely lost his elegance. Its beginning is ease but its end is hardship; you will not find anything more wicked than it. Beware! It is the tree of Zaqqūm;¹ do not, there- fore, mistake it for a cluster of grapes. That is why the servants of God have drawn a sharp sword against it; they neither grab it with their hands nor do they seek to milk it; they have divorced 1. Zaqqūm denotes the tree of disbelief. The Quran has compared true belief to a good tree which brings forth its fruit at all times (14:25-26) and disbelief to an evil tree-Zaqqūm (14:27). [Publisher]