Reading from the author's text with commentary and collation of manuscripts
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may the prayer and peace be upon the noblest of the prophets and messengers, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
As for what follows, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said in *Iqtida' al-Sirat al-Mustaqim*:
"And I have known a group of people who asked for their needs from some of the buried prophets and righteous people, and their needs were fulfilled. This does not go beyond what I have mentioned, and it is not a Shari'ah to be followed, nor a Sunnah. Rather, the recommendation of actions and adopting them as religion is established only by the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and what the earliest predecessors were upon. And whatever is other than these among the newly invented matters is not recommended, even if it sometimes contains benefits, because we know that their harms outweigh their benefits".
The Shaykh : Do you have "because we know"?
The reader: "Because we know that their harms outweigh their benefits. Then this prohibition or dislike associated with disliked supplications is either from the side of what is sought, or from the side of the request itself. And so is the forbidden or disliked seeking refuge; its dislike is either from the side of what one seeks refuge from, or from the side of the seeking of refuge itself. They escape from that".
The Shaykh : They escape.
The reader: "They escape from that evil, but they fall into something greater than it. As for the forbidden thing sought, it is like asking for what harms him in this world or the Hereafter, even if he does not know that it harms him, and it is answered for him ".
The student: "tasta'tih" (you can bear it).
The Shaykh : "Tasta'tih"? Do you have "tasta'tih" without the taa? It is acceptable from the perspective of Arabic language, but we have it with the taa. Yes.
The reader: "And like the people of Jabir ibn 'Utayk when he died, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih Muslim 920a.
And Allah has criticized those who limit themselves to seeking this world by His saying:[Al-Baqarah 2:200] So He informed that whoever does not seek except this world will have no share in the Hereafter. And like supplicating against others with a supplication that is forbidden, like the supplication of Bal'am ibn Ba'ura against the people of Moses (peace be upon him). And many of the servants, the owners of .
The Shaykh : It seems you pronounced "Ba'ura" with a sukun?
The reader: Listen
The Shaykh : Did you pronounce "Ba'ura" with a sukun?
The reader: Ba'ura.
The Shaykh : Yes, I am saying you pronounced it with a sukun, move it so we see what it is.
The reader: Okay "And like supplicating against others with a supplication that is forbidden, like the supplication of Bal'am ibn Ba'ura against the people of Moses".
The Shaykh : Wrong, what do we say?
The reader: Meaning Ba'ura (with fathah).
The Shaykh : Yes, it is a foreign word and a foreign letter.
The student: ... Ba'ura (with alif).
The Shaykh : The one we have does not have an alif.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : I am saying the one we have does not have an alif, it has the foreign letter and the foreign word. If it has an alif, it is the alif of feminine elongation.
The student: ... Bal'am.
The Shaykh : Instead of Bal'am.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Perhaps you know that foreign names differ when Arabized.
The reader: "And many of the servants, the owners of hearts, may be tested with this, for what he finds of love or hatred for certain people may overcome one of them, so he supplicates for some people and against some people with what is not fitting, and it is answered for him, and he deserves punishment for that supplication, just as he deserves it for all other sins. If he does not obtain what erases it, such as repentance or erasing good deeds, or the intercession of others, or something else, otherwise he may be punished, either by being deprived of what he had of the taste of faith".
The Shaykh : I seek refuge in Allah.
The reader: "And the presence of its sweetness, so he descends from his rank, or by being deprived of the work of faith, so he becomes an open sinner".
The Shaykh : Or.
The student: "Or by being deprived of the work of faith, so he becomes an open sinner, or by being deprived of the foundation of faith".
The Shaykh : Foundation (with fathah).
The reader: Yes "Or by being deprived of the foundation of faith, so he becomes a disbeliever, a hypocrite, or not a hypocrite. And how often the later people of the states of the heart are tested with such things, due to their lack of understanding of the states of their hearts, and their lack of knowledge of the Shari'ah of Allah in the works of the hearts. And perhaps the state of his heart overcomes one of them, so that he cannot divert it from what it is directed to, so what comes out of him remains like the arrow that has left the bow".
The Shaykh : Allah is the Greatest.
The reader: "And this overcoming usually happens due to negligence in the prescribed works that preserve the state of the heart, so he is held accountable for that"
The Shaykh : I have: "that preserve the heart."
The reader: It says: "State" is missing from manuscript T.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The reader: "That preserve the state of the heart, so he is held accountable for that. And it may happen due to an effort in which its owner errs, so it is excused".
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may the prayer and peace be upon the noblest of the prophets and messengers, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
As for what follows, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said in *Iqtida' al-Sirat al-Mustaqim*:
"And I have known a group of people who asked for their needs from some of the buried prophets and righteous people, and their needs were fulfilled. This does not go beyond what I have mentioned, and it is not a Shari'ah to be followed, nor a Sunnah. Rather, the recommendation of actions and adopting them as religion is established only by the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and what the earliest predecessors were upon. And whatever is other than these among the newly invented matters is not recommended, even if it sometimes contains benefits, because we know that their harms outweigh their benefits".
The Shaykh : Do you have "because we know"?
The reader: "Because we know that their harms outweigh their benefits. Then this prohibition or dislike associated with disliked supplications is either from the side of what is sought, or from the side of the request itself. And so is the forbidden or disliked seeking refuge; its dislike is either from the side of what one seeks refuge from, or from the side of the seeking of refuge itself. They escape from that".
The Shaykh : They escape.
The reader: "They escape from that evil, but they fall into something greater than it. As for the forbidden thing sought, it is like asking for what harms him in this world or the Hereafter, even if he does not know that it harms him, and it is answered for him
Like the man whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) visited, and he found him like a chick, so he said: "Did you used to supplicate to Allah for anything?" He said: "I used to say: O Allah, whatever You are punishing me with in the Hereafter, hasten it for me in this world." He said: "Glory be to Allah, you cannot bear it - or you cannot endure it - why did you not say: Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and save us from the punishment of the Fire?"
كالرجل الذي عاده النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، فوجده مثل الفرخ فقال: هل كنت تدعو الله بشيء؟ قال : كنت أقول : اللهم ما كنت معاقبني به في الآخرة فعجله لي في الدنيا. قال : سبحان الله، إنك لا تستطيعه - أو لا تطيقه - هلا قلت : ربنا آتنا في الدنيا حسنة وفي الآخرة حسنة، وقنا عذاب النار ؟The student: "tasta'tih" (you can bear it).
The Shaykh : "Tasta'tih"? Do you have "tasta'tih" without the taa? It is acceptable from the perspective of Arabic language, but we have it with the taa. Yes.
The reader: "And like the people of Jabir ibn 'Utayk when he died, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Do not supplicate for yourselves anything but good, for angels say" Amen" to what you say.
لا تدعوا على أنفسكم إلا بخي ، فإن الملائكة يؤمنون على ما تقولونAnd Allah has criticized those who limit themselves to seeking this world by His saying:
And among the people is he who says, "Our Lord, give us in this world," and he will have in the Hereafter no share.
فمن الناس من يقول ربنا آتنا في الدنيا وما له في الآخرة من خلاقٍThe Shaykh : It seems you pronounced "Ba'ura" with a sukun?
The reader: Listen
The Shaykh : Did you pronounce "Ba'ura" with a sukun?
The reader: Ba'ura.
The Shaykh : Yes, I am saying you pronounced it with a sukun, move it so we see what it is.
The reader: Okay "And like supplicating against others with a supplication that is forbidden, like the supplication of Bal'am ibn Ba'ura against the people of Moses".
The Shaykh : Wrong, what do we say?
The reader: Meaning Ba'ura (with fathah).
The Shaykh : Yes, it is a foreign word and a foreign letter.
The student: ... Ba'ura (with alif).
The Shaykh : The one we have does not have an alif.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : I am saying the one we have does not have an alif, it has the foreign letter and the foreign word. If it has an alif, it is the alif of feminine elongation.
The student: ... Bal'am.
The Shaykh : Instead of Bal'am.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Perhaps you know that foreign names differ when Arabized.
The reader: "And many of the servants, the owners of hearts, may be tested with this, for what he finds of love or hatred for certain people may overcome one of them, so he supplicates for some people and against some people with what is not fitting, and it is answered for him, and he deserves punishment for that supplication, just as he deserves it for all other sins. If he does not obtain what erases it, such as repentance or erasing good deeds, or the intercession of others, or something else, otherwise he may be punished, either by being deprived of what he had of the taste of faith".
The Shaykh : I seek refuge in Allah.
The reader: "And the presence of its sweetness, so he descends from his rank, or by being deprived of the work of faith, so he becomes an open sinner".
The Shaykh : Or.
The student: "Or by being deprived of the work of faith, so he becomes an open sinner, or by being deprived of the foundation of faith".
The Shaykh : Foundation (with fathah).
The reader: Yes "Or by being deprived of the foundation of faith, so he becomes a disbeliever, a hypocrite, or not a hypocrite. And how often the later people of the states of the heart are tested with such things, due to their lack of understanding of the states of their hearts, and their lack of knowledge of the Shari'ah of Allah in the works of the hearts. And perhaps the state of his heart overcomes one of them, so that he cannot divert it from what it is directed to, so what comes out of him remains like the arrow that has left the bow".
The Shaykh : Allah is the Greatest.
The reader: "And this overcoming usually happens due to negligence in the prescribed works that preserve the state of the heart, so he is held accountable for that"
The Shaykh : I have: "that preserve the heart."
The reader: It says: "State" is missing from manuscript T.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The reader: "That preserve the state of the heart, so he is held accountable for that. And it may happen due to an effort in which its owner errs, so it is excused".