LESSON OF THE DAY 336

Ayah of the Day:
Say, "Who provides for you from the skies and the earth? and who has power over hearing and seeing? And who brings forth the living from the dead, and brings forth the dead from the living? and who governs the order? They will say, "God." So say, "then will you not be alert?" [10:31]

Hadith of the Day:
A person's real wealth is whatever he spends during his life (on good deeds), while the wealth of his heirs is whatever he leaves after his death [Bukhari]WISE

Quote of the Day:
Leaving what is displeasing to Allah is one of the greatest spiritual works. [Sheikh Faraz rabbani]

Guidance of the Day:
Jihad against the ego is the Greater Jihad, for it is a kind of war in which no truce is possible as long as one has an "ego". The prophet (may blessings and peace be upon him) said, "A fighter (mujahid) is someone who fights his caprices, and an emigrant (muhajir) is someone who renounces what God has forbidden." This is because there are certain specific times in which the jihad of armed combat can be carried out, after which it ends, which is not the case with the jihad against the ego.

Similarly, emigration in the time of the Prophet was to Medina. Thus the true fighter did not endure hardships and dangers, heroic battles, and the separation from family and property, until he had conquered his caprices and subdued his ego for the sake of God's pleasure.

It is a well known fact that in the jihad against the ego one must acquire arms, equipment and helpers if one is to be able to subdue it and proceed on the path to the Real so as to attain the station of Tawhid and perfect intimacy in the proximity of the One, the Glorious. Without them there can be no victory. These arms and equipment consist of useful knowledge and good works, which lead to the coolness of certainty and the reality of faith. The helpers are the guides on the Path, who point out its landmarks, and who transmit the Messages of God, and take each others' hands in traveling this rocky terrain and ascending these heights. They are beacons to the travelers, guides to the perplexed, the waymarks, and the very essence of realization. [Key to the GARDEN]

Food for Thought:
The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.