The saying of the famous: I have carved my history and my fame into the rock
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Question:
And likewise the saying of the famous, for example, in the fields of life, whether trade or knowledge, where one of them says, "I have carved my history and my fame into the rock,"
Answer:
Rock, yes, this is arrogance. This is arrogance for a person to reach this point and say, "I am the one who carved my fame into the rock, and I am the one who established my efforts." This is arrogance regarding power and strength. The phrase "La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah" (There is no power nor strength except with Allah) is a great phrase. It is that a person disclaims power and strength and attributes this to Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He). "La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah"[Al-Fatihah 1:5] So a person does not forget his Lord and attribute this to his toil, his earnings, his experience, and so on. If he obtains wealth, if he obtains anything, he says, "This is due to my skill, due to my knowledge," and he forgets, he forgets Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
This, as we said, these matters are causes, and the Causer is Allah. If He wills, He arranges their results upon these causes, and if He wills, He prevents their results and the causes are lost. So matters are in the hand of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Yes.
Therefore, the poet says: If there is no aid from Allah for the young man, the first thing that will harm him is his effort. The first thing that will harm him is his effort. Power and strength are in the hand of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), and a person is a weak human being. Were it not that Allah is the One who bestows upon him, gives to him, protects him, provides for him, supports him, and makes him understand—if he were studying—he would not reach anything. So a person attaches his heart to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and directs gratitude to Allah, and praise and eulogy to Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He). Then there is no barrier to his thanking the benefactors for their kindness and praising them according to the extent of their kindness, but the origin of gratitude, the origin of eulogy, and the origin of praise is for Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He). Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah grant you success,
And likewise the saying of the famous, for example, in the fields of life, whether trade or knowledge, where one of them says, "I have carved my history and my fame into the rock,"
Answer:
Rock, yes, this is arrogance. This is arrogance for a person to reach this point and say, "I am the one who carved my fame into the rock, and I am the one who established my efforts." This is arrogance regarding power and strength. The phrase "La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah" (There is no power nor strength except with Allah) is a great phrase. It is that a person disclaims power and strength and attributes this to Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He). "La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah"
It is You we worship and You we ask for help.
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُThis, as we said, these matters are causes, and the Causer is Allah. If He wills, He arranges their results upon these causes, and if He wills, He prevents their results and the causes are lost. So matters are in the hand of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Yes.
Therefore, the poet says: If there is no aid from Allah for the young man, the first thing that will harm him is his effort. The first thing that will harm him is his effort. Power and strength are in the hand of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), and a person is a weak human being. Were it not that Allah is the One who bestows upon him, gives to him, protects him, provides for him, supports him, and makes him understand—if he were studying—he would not reach anything. So a person attaches his heart to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and directs gratitude to Allah, and praise and eulogy to Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He). Then there is no barrier to his thanking the benefactors for their kindness and praising them according to the extent of their kindness, but the origin of gratitude, the origin of eulogy, and the origin of praise is for Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He). Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah grant you success,
Source
شرح قرة عيون الموحدين في تحقيق دعوة الأنبياء والمرسلين، باب قول الله - تعالى - : { يَعْرِفُونَ نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ يُنْكِرُونَهَا وَأَكْثَرُهُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ } — islamhouse.com (53:14)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.