Reading and commentary on the poet’s introduction: He turned away from the high gates that guarantee the fulfillment of the desired end and the pinnacle of excellence
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The reader: He turned away from the lowly gates
The Shaykh : No, the high ones. You have a full line: “He turned away from the high gates that guarantee the fulfillment of the desired end and the pinnacle of excellence, and was thus afflicted by stopping at the lowly gates filled with disappointment”. Yes, I will dictate it to you... there is no transposition... I will dictate it to you. He said, may Allah have mercy on him: “He turned away from the high gates that guarantee the fulfillment of the desired end and the pinnacle of excellence, and was thus afflicted by stopping at the lowly gates”. I think you have it... “and was thus afflicted by stopping at the lowly gates filled with disappointment”. Do you have it? So let us read it now. Repeat it.
The reader: “He turned away from the high gates that guarantee the fulfillment of the desired end and the pinnacle of excellence, and was thus afflicted by stopping at the lowly gates filled with disappointment and deprivation. He had donned a garment woven from ignorance, blind following, doubt, and stubbornness. So when advice was offered to him and he was called to the truth, arrogance in sin seized him, and Hell will be sufficient for him, and wretched is the bed. How great is the calamity of him and those like him upon faith, and how severe is the transgression of him against the Sunnah and the Qur’an. How beloved to the Most Merciful is the struggle against him with the heart, hand, and tongue, and how heavy is the reward of that struggle in the scale. The struggle with argument and tongue takes precedence over the struggle with sword and spear. For this reason, Allah the Exalted commanded in the Meccan surahs, where there is no struggle by hand, as a warning and an excuse, saying:[Al-Furqan 25:52]. And the Exalted commanded the struggle against the hypocrites and harshness toward them, given that they are among the Muslims in residence and travel, saying: [At-Tawbah 9:73]. So the struggle with knowledge and argument is the struggle of His prophets and messengers and His special servants, those chosen for guidance, success, and agreement. Whoever dies without going on a military expedition and without having his heart yearn for it dies upon a branch of hypocrisy. It is sufficient for a servant to be blind and abandoned if he sees the armies of faith and the soldiers of the Sunnah and the Qur’an, who have donned the armor of war for his community, prepared their equipment, taken their battle formations, and stood, and the heat has risen”
The Shaykh : And stood in their positions, for his community... their positions, and stood in their positions
The reader: “and taken their battle formations, and stood in their positions, and the heat has risen, and the wheel of war has turned, and the fighting has intensified, and the kin have called out, ‘Battle, battle!’ Yet he is in the refuge and the caves, hiding with the laggards like an ambush. And when fate helps him and he resolves to come out, he sits atop the hill with the onlookers, watching to see who will prevail so that he may join them. Then he comes to them swearing by Allah with the utmost of his oaths, ‘I am with you, and I wished that you were the victors.’ So it is fitting for one who has value for his own soul”
The Shaykh : value
The reader: “So it is fitting for one who has”
The Shaykh : No, the high ones. You have a full line: “He turned away from the high gates that guarantee the fulfillment of the desired end and the pinnacle of excellence, and was thus afflicted by stopping at the lowly gates filled with disappointment”. Yes, I will dictate it to you... there is no transposition... I will dictate it to you. He said, may Allah have mercy on him: “He turned away from the high gates that guarantee the fulfillment of the desired end and the pinnacle of excellence, and was thus afflicted by stopping at the lowly gates”. I think you have it... “and was thus afflicted by stopping at the lowly gates filled with disappointment”. Do you have it? So let us read it now. Repeat it.
The reader: “He turned away from the high gates that guarantee the fulfillment of the desired end and the pinnacle of excellence, and was thus afflicted by stopping at the lowly gates filled with disappointment and deprivation. He had donned a garment woven from ignorance, blind following, doubt, and stubbornness. So when advice was offered to him and he was called to the truth, arrogance in sin seized him, and Hell will be sufficient for him, and wretched is the bed. How great is the calamity of him and those like him upon faith, and how severe is the transgression of him against the Sunnah and the Qur’an. How beloved to the Most Merciful is the struggle against him with the heart, hand, and tongue, and how heavy is the reward of that struggle in the scale. The struggle with argument and tongue takes precedence over the struggle with sword and spear. For this reason, Allah the Exalted commanded in the Meccan surahs, where there is no struggle by hand, as a warning and an excuse, saying:
So do not obey the disbelievers, and strive against them with the Qur'an a great striving.
فلا تطع الكافرين وجاهدهم به جهادا كبيراًO Prophet, fight against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh upon them. And their refuge is Hell, and wretched is the destination.
يا أيها النبي جاهد الكفار والمنافقين واغلظ عليهم ومأواهم جهنم وبئس المصيرThe Shaykh : And stood in their positions, for his community... their positions, and stood in their positions
The reader: “and taken their battle formations, and stood in their positions, and the heat has risen, and the wheel of war has turned, and the fighting has intensified, and the kin have called out, ‘Battle, battle!’ Yet he is in the refuge and the caves, hiding with the laggards like an ambush. And when fate helps him and he resolves to come out, he sits atop the hill with the onlookers, watching to see who will prevail so that he may join them. Then he comes to them swearing by Allah with the utmost of his oaths, ‘I am with you, and I wished that you were the victors.’ So it is fitting for one who has value for his own soul”
The Shaykh : value
The reader: “So it is fitting for one who has”