Saturday, August 22, 2026

Controlling the Nafs: Trials, Patience and Spiritual Lessons from the Auliyā of Allah

31. Fine of eating lentils

Sayyidunā Ibrāĥīm Bin Shaybān الرَّحَّان عَلَیْہِ رَحْمَةُ اللہِ has narrated: I have not spent any night for rest under a roof for forty years. I had a strong desire to eat lentils to my full extent. Once, in Syria, someone gave me a plate of cooked lentils which I ate. Having eaten it, I passed by a shop where I saw some bottles hanging on a rack. Assuming that the bottles contained vinegar, I looked at them closely. Someone told me that there was wine in the bottles. Pointing towards some jars, he further said that there was wine in those jars as well. Infuriated, I brought out the wine jars from the shop and began to overturn them on the street. The shop owner thought that I was an officer of the government, thus he was afraid. He stood and watched silently. When he got to know about me, he took me to the governor of Egypt and Syria, Ibn-e-Ṭūlūn. I was hit 200 lashes and jailed for a long time. Luckily, my respected teacher and spiritual guide, Sayyidunā Abū 'Abdullāh Maghribī رَحْمَةُاللهِتَعَالٰیعَلَیْہِ arrived in the town. He asked me, 'What crime did you commit?' I replied that I had eaten a plate of lentils and, as a fine, I was hit 200 lashes in addition to imprisonment. Hearing this, my respected teacher replied, 'You were punished only slightly.' I also told him about the incident of wine-jars. He interceded and got me released.

(Risāla-tul-Qushayriyyah, pp. 153)

May Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ have mercy on them and forgive us without accountability for their sake!

صَلُّوْا عَلَى الْحَبِيْبِ ! صَلَّى اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى عَلٰى مُحَمَّد

Dear Islamic brothers! The Auliyā of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ always refrain from following their Nafs. If they ever fulfil the demand of their Nafs, they face hardships, and in this way, their spiritual status is enhanced. These are private matters between them and their Creator.

32. Fish bone

Sayyidunā Abul Khayr 'Asqalānī قَدَّسَ سِرُّهُ الرَّبَّانِيّ had the desire to eat fish from many years. Finally, he managed to have fish with Ḥalāl means. As soon as he stretched out his hand to begin eating, a piece of fish bone pricked his finger. The wound went severely septic and his hand had to be amputated. He then beseeched in the court of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ, 'O Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ! This is the state of the person who desired to consume a Ḥalāl thing and stretched out his hand towards it. What will be the condition of the person who desires a Ḥarām thing and stretches out his hand towards it?'

(Risāla-tul-Qushayriyyah, pp. 142)

May Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ have mercy on him and forgive us without accountability for his sake!

Dear Islamic brothers! The Madanī mindset of the saints is extraordinary. Even after going through pain and trials, they still manage to pick the positives and adopt humility in the court of their Creator. It is our positive opinion that the pricking of fish bone was a means of further increasing (the spiritual) rank of Sayyidunā Abul Khayr 'Asqalānī قَدَّسَ سِرُّهُ الرَّبَّانِيّ. Sometimes, the bone pricks people in the throat while eating fish. If this happens, one should have patience because when a Muslim experiences difficulty, either his sins are removed or his spiritual status is enhanced.

Reward of thorn-pricking

Sayyidunā Abū Sa'id Khudrī and Sayyidunā Abū Hurayrah رَضِیَ اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَنْہُمَا have narrated that the Beloved and Blessed Rasūl صَلَّى اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم has stated, 'No sadness, difficulty, anxiety, pain, injury, sorrow or even the pricking of a thorn reaches a Muslim, but Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ erases the sin of that Muslim (due to these difficulties).'

(Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, vol. 7, pp. 3, Ḥadīš 5641-5642)

Wisdom of difficulties

The Holy Prophet صَلَّى اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم has stated, 'If a high status is predestined for a person in the knowledge of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ, but the person is unable to acquire that status by his deeds, so Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ makes that person suffer financial, physical or family difficulty. He عَزَّوَجَلَّ then blesses that person with patience and makes him reach that high status which was predestined for him in the divine knowledge.'

(Sunan Abī Dāwūd, pp. 123, Ḥadīš 3090)

Woh 'ishq-e-ḥaqīqī kī laẕẕāt nahīn pā saktā
Jo ranj-o-muṣībat say dauchār nahīn ĥotā

He cannot taste the true love and devotion
Who does not face adversity and harsh condition

33. Carrot and honey

Our saints رَحِمَهُمُ اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی used to oppose their Nafs strongly. Sayyidunā Sarī Saqaṭī رَحْمَةُاللهِتَعَالٰیعَلَیْہِ has stated, 'My Nafs has been urging me that I eat a single carrot dipped in honey (if not more) for the past 30 or 40 years, but I have not fulfilled its desire, اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰہِ عَزَّوَجَلَّ.'

(Risāla-tul-Qushayriyyah, pp. 153)

May Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ have mercy on him and forgive us without accountability for his sake!

34. He spat out fig

Sayyidunā Ja'far Bin Naṣīr عَلَيْهِ رَحْمَةُ اللّٰهِ الْقَاهِر has narrated: Once Sayyidunā Shaykh Junayd Baghdādī عَلَيْهِ رَحْمَةُ اللّٰهِ الْقَاهِر gave me a dinar to purchase some figs. I brought some figs from the market. At the time of Ifṭār, he placed a fig in his mouth but then immediately spat it out. He then began to weep and instructed that the figs be taken away. When he was asked as to why he did so, he replied, 'A voice came from my conscience, "Are you not ashamed of fulfilling the desire you had already forgone for the pleasure of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ."'

(Risāla-tul-Qushayriyyah, pp. 154)

May Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ have mercy on him and forgive us without accountability for his sake!

A wise man has rightly said, 'One should not give his rein of control to his desire because it will lead him to darkness.'

(ibid, pp. 154)

35. Confectioner fed them

Shaykh-ul-Muḥaqqiqīn, Khātim-ul-Muḥaddišīn, Shaykh 'Abdul Ḥaq Muḥaddiš Dihlvī عَلَيْهِ رَحْمَةُ اللّٰهِ الْقَوِي has narrated, 'My spiritual master and guide, Shaykh 'Abdul Waĥĥāb Muttaqī عَلَيْهِ رَحْمَةُ اللّٰهِ الْقَوِي once stayed in a Masjid along with one of his friends for worship during the period of famine. They had already decided not to speak to each other. They also decided neither to ask anyone for food nor eat anything with their own hands. Twenty days passed without eating. On the twenty first day, a confectioner entered the Masjid and placed some food in between both of them and left. As they had already decided not to eat anything with their own hands, they did not eat at all. On the twenty-second day, the confectioner did the same and left. Again, both the saints did not even touch the food. On the twenty-third day, the confectioner brought food and fed them with his own hands.'

(Al-Akhbār-ul-Akhyār ma' Maktūbāt, pp. 278)

May Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ have mercy on them and forgive us without accountability for their sake!

صَلُّوْا عَلَى الْحَبِيْبِ ! صَلَّى اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى عَلٰى مُحَمَّد

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