Explanation of the author's statement: "For aspirations have waned, and the causes that deter from attaining the desired goal have multiplied, and despite its small size, it contains what suffices in place of lengthening."

The Shaykh : The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "For aspirations have waned". "Iz" is a particle of causation, "al-humam" (aspirations) is the subject, and the clause "qad qasarat" (have waned) is its predicate. "Al-humam" is the plural of "hammah," which means firm resolve. Sometimes "hammah" is used to mean something less than firm resolve, and it encompasses both. People's aspirations have waned since the time of the author (may Allah have mercy on him) in the eighth or ninth century, and now they are even shorter and shorter... Allah knows best. And his saying: "For aspirations have waned", this clause is an explanation for his saying "concise." He omitted it, meaning he made it concise and omitted this because aspirations have waned. Aspirations waned in his time as well. Along with the waning of aspirations, there are distractors. So there is no motive; the motive is weak. The motive is that the aspiration has weakened. There are also distractors there. For this reason, he said: "And the causes that deter from attaining the desired goal have multiplied". If the motive is weak or short, and the distractor is strong, the thing does not happen. It does not happen. And his saying: "The causes" is the plural of "sabab" (cause). In language, it is what one reaches the desired thing through. Here, the intended meaning is the linguistic cause, not the technical one. "That deter" means that weaken the aspirations. "Have multiplied". This was common in his time, and in our time it is more and more and more. We, and some of you, have also experienced a time not long ago when the causes that deter from knowledge were few. The causes that deter from knowledge and turning to it are many, internal within the person's own home, within his own country, and within his own government, and external as well. They are like a stone thrown into water; the circle is small, then it expands and becomes circles. Now, in reality, the causes that deter have surrounded the person from near and far. But despite that, as long as the person feels that he is in struggle, and that as the distractor strengthens, the person's drive allows him to attain two rewards: the reward of the work and the reward of resisting the opposition. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed that the days of patience for the worker in them are the reward of fifty of the Companions, because there are many causes that deter and distract. So if you seek help from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and resist these distractors and preventing causes, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) will help you and give you strength to push forward and be pushed back. But if you turn away, this is a calamity. And sins are among the greatest occurrences. Not all sins. And this is evidence that... the person from the remembrance. These are their causes: sins. So with seeking forgiveness and repentance to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and sincerity of intention with Allah, Allah will make the matter easy for you. I saw some scholars derive from the saying of Allah the Exalted: They derived that it is recommended for the person, when an incident befalls him, whether it is a fatwa or a judicial ruling, to increase in seeking forgiveness, because Allah said: Then He said: And this is not far-fetched, because sins prevent the seeing of the truth. We ask Allah to forgive us and you. He said: "And despite its small size, it contains what suffices in place of lengthening". Despite its small size, it contains what suffices in place of lengthening. What is the size? The size of the thing, meaning its body and its touch, and the like. "Despite its smallness, it contained" means it gathered. "What suffices in place of lengthening" because it is a comprehensive book, and it is more comprehensive than the book of Shaykh Muray (may Allah have mercy on him), which is "Dalil al-Talib" (The Seeker's Guide). "Dalil al-Talib" is better in arrangement than this, because it mentions the conditions, pillars, and obligations. But regarding the issues, this is much more, meaning that one is perhaps a third of this in issues. That one is correct, meaning detailed and clear. For this reason, our Shaykh Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Sa'di had memorized the text of "Dalil" and derived jurisprudence from it, but despite that, he would point his students to this book and would not teach us anything but this book, because he said it is more comprehensive. And the explanation of Shaykh Mansur (may Allah have mercy on him) for it is better than the explanations of "Dalil al-Talib." He said: "And what suffices in place of lengthening".