Ideas to change your life

  بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ فَقُلْتُ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ غَفَّارًا  يُرْسِلِ السَّمَاء عَلَيْكُم مِّدْرَارًا   وَيُمْدِدْكُمْ بِأَمْوَالٍ وَبَنِينَ وَيَجْعَل لَّكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ وَيَجْعَل لَّكُمْ أَنْهَارًا Faqultus taghfiroo Rabakum innahoo kaana Ghaffaaraa Yursilis samaaa’a ‘alaikum midraaraa  Wa yumdidkum bi am waalinw wa baneena wa yaj’al lakum Jannaatinw wa yaj’al lakum anhaaraa  Nu h 71 : 10-12 . and I said: "Ask your Sustainer to forgive you your sins - for, verily, He is all-forgiving! He will shower upon you heavenly blessings abundant,  and will aid you with worldly goods and children, and will bestow upon you gardens, and bestow upon you running waters Lesson 1: Someone complained to Al-Hasan Al-Basri about a drought, and he said to him: "Seek forgiveness from Allah. Someone else complained to him of poverty and he said to him: "Ask Allah to forgive you." Someone else had the concern of gardens going...

  بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ     يُؤتِي الْحِكْمَةَ مَن يَشَاء وَمَن يُؤْتَ الْحِكْمَةَ فَقَدْ أُوتِيَ خَيْرًا كَثِيرًا وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلاَّ أُوْلُواْ الأَلْبَابِ Yu’til Hikmata mai yashaaa’; wa mai yu’tal Hikmata faqad ootiya khairan kaseeraa; wa maa yazzakkaru illaaa ulul albaab Part of Al-Baqara (The Cow) 2:269.. granting wisdom unto whom He wills: and whoever is granted wisdom has indeed been granted wealth abundant. But none bears this in mind save those who are endowed with insight.  Lesson 1: When a great Sufi mystic, Hasan, was on his deathbed, someone asked him about his teacher. He said, "I had thousands of teachers.Just to relate their names it will take months, years and we don't have enough time. But perhaps three of them might be of particular interest to you. One was a career thief. Once I got lost and wandered into a remote village, quite late at night. Everyone was asleep and everything closed, but I saw a man trying to ma...

  بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ   ...  وَ عَسَى أَن تَكْرَهُواْ شَيْئًا وَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ وَعَسَى أَن تُحِبُّواْ شَيْئًا وَهُوَ شَرٌّ لَّكُمْ وَاللّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنتُمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ wa ‘asaaa an takrahoo shai’anw wa huwa khairullakum wa ‘asaaa an tuhibbo shai’anw wa huwa sharrullakum; wallaahu ya’lamu wa antum laa ta’lamoon Part of Al-Baqara (The Cow) 2:216,   It may well be that you hate a thing the while it is good for you, and it may well be that you love a thing the while it is bad for you: and Allah knows, whereas you do not know.  There are old tales from different lands that seem to point to the same truth: sometimes as humans, we only the surface of events, while the wisdom behind them often remains hidden until much later. The Chinese Farmer (from a Tao/Zen tale) One old tale tells of a farmer who lived near the borderlands of China. He was a simple man, but he possessed a quiet kind of wisdom. He had only one mare, and ...

  بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ     وَأَنذِرۡهُمۡ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡحَسۡرَةِ إِذۡ قُضِيَ ٱلۡأَمۡرُ وَهُمۡ فِي غَفۡلَةٖ وَهُمۡ لَا يُؤۡمِنُونَ Wa anzirhum Yawmal hasrati iz qudiyal amr; wa hum fee ghaflatinw wa hum laa yu’minoon Maryam (Mary) - 19:39 hence, warn them of [the coming of] the Day of Regrets, when everything will have been decided-for as yet they are heedless, and they do not believe [in it].   مَن كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ الْآخِرَةِ نَزِدْ لَهُ فِي حَرْثِهِ وَمَن كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ الدُّنْيَا نُؤتِهِ مِنْهَا وَمَا لَهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِن نَّصِيبٍ    Man kaana yureedu harsal Aakhirati nazid lahoo fee harsihee wa man kaana yureedu harsad dunyaa nu’tihee minhaa wa maa lahoo fil Aakhirati min naseeb Ash-Shura (The Consultation)  42:20 To him who desires a harvest in the life to come, We shall grant an increase in his harvest; whereas to him who desires [but] a harvest in this world, We [may] give something thereof - but he will have no shar...

  بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ وَذَكِّرْ فَإِنَّ الذِّكْرَى تَنفَعُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ  Wa zakkir fa innaz zikraa tanfa’ul mu’mineen Az-Zariyat (The Scatterers) 51:55 Go on reminding [all who would listen]: for, verily, such a reminder will profit the believers.   There is a well known story about Malik Ayaz , the devoted servant of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, which beautifully brings out the meaning of this verse. It is said that Malik Ayaz had become very close to Sultan Mahmud. The Sultan trusted him deeply and kept him near, and because of this many people around the court became jealous. Their hearts could not bear the favor shown to him, and so they were always  conniving to rid the Sultan of from under his influence. One day they came with an accusation. They claimed that Ayaz had hidden stolen wealth inside a secret chamber, a room that he entered alone every day. They spoke with confidence, hoping that suspicion would do what truth could not. When the S...