The Twenty-Second Flash

CONCLUDING WORD

Opposition that both astonishes me and inspires gratitude

Among worldly people, who are marked by an extraordinary degree of egotism, there is such acute sensitivity to the slightest trace of self-conceit that, were it exercised consciously, it might almost be regarded as a wondrous phenomenon or a manifestation of extraordinary genius. Their conduct is as follows:

Measuring me against the delicate scales of their own egos, they imagine that they discern in me the faintest trace of self-conceit akin to riyā—something of which neither my own nafsThe aspect of the soul associated with lower desires and negative traits. nor my intellect is even aware. They therefore act with the utmost severity against a self-conceit of which I myself am entirely unconscious.

Over the past eight or nine years, I have experienced this on eight or nine occasions. Whenever they treated me unjustly, I would reflect upon the decree of Divine destiny and ask myself: “Why has Divine destiny set them against me?” I would then examine the deceptions of my own nafsThe aspect of the soul associated with lower desires and negative traits..

Each time, I came to realise that my nafsThe aspect of the soul associated with lower desires and negative traits. had either unconsciously betrayed a natural inclination towards egotism or had deliberately deceived me. I would then say to myself: “Through the injustice of these oppressors, Divine destiny has dealt justly with me.”

For example, this summer, my friends mounted me on a fine horse, and we went out riding. Unbeknownst to me, a desire to take a certain self-satisfied pleasure in the occasion stirred within my nafsThe aspect of the soul associated with lower desires and negative traits.. But worldly people reacted so fiercely against that desire that they not only extinguished this hidden inclination but also caused many of my other desires to vanish.

وَقُلْ رَبِّ اَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ هَمَزَاتِ الشَّيَاطيِنِ ۞ وَ اَعُوذُ بِكَ رَبِّ اَنْ يَحْضُرُونِAnd say: ‘My Lord, I seek refuge in You from the evil promptings of the devils. And I seek refuge in You, my Lord, lest they come near me.’ — The Qur’an 23:97–98

اَللّٰهُمَّ يَا حَافِظُ يَاحَفِيظُ يَا خَيْرَ الْحَافِظِينَ، اِحْفَظْنِى وَاحْفَظْ رُفَقَائِى مِنْ شَرِّ النَّفْسِ وَالشَّيْطَانِ وَمِنْ شَرِّ الْجِنِّ وَاْلاِنْسَانِ وَمِنْ شَرِّ اَهْلِ الضَّلاَلَةِ وَاَهْلِ الطُّغْيَانِ اٰمِينَ اٰمِينَ اٰمِينO Allah, O Protector, O Preserver, O Best of Protectors! Protect me and my companions from the evil of the soul and Satan, from the evil of the jinn and mankind, and from the evil of the people of misguidance and the people of tyranny. Āmīn, Āmīn, Āmīn.

سُبْحَانَكَ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَٓا اِلَّا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَٓا اِنَّكَ اَنْتَ الْعَلٖيمُ الْحَكٖيمُGlory be to You. We have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. – The Quran 2:32