THIRD SCIENCE · THIRD CHAPTER · FOURTH SECTION · Fourth Article
Fourth Article
It explains the effects and benefits of contentment with divine decree (riḍā).
O dear one! It should be known that the friends of Allah (awliyāʾ) have said: The fourth of the four ailments that preoccupy the servant’s qalb (the heart) from the presence of the Exalted Lord is the divine decree (qaḍā).
The manifestation of this occurs in various forms, and the remedy for all of them has only been found in contentment (riḍā). As has been indicated above, this matter has been alluded to.
Thus, in the event of the manifestation of the divine decree, being content with every state is necessary for two reasons:
First, it is to purify one’s qalb from all transient attachments in order to worship and attain the presence of the Real (al-Ḥaqq). For if you are not content with the divine decree, your qalb will always be sorrowful and your mind preoccupied, remaining in a state of constant bewilderment. You will grieve, asking yourself, “Why did it happen like this? Why did it not happen otherwise?” When a qalb is thus occupied with sorrow and grief, how can it be free for worship and presence?
For you have only one qalb, and it is constantly constricted by being occupied with past and future matters. It has become filled with so much sorrow and grief. In such a state, there remains no place in it for presence and intimacy, and it is deprived of maʿrifa (experiential knowledge of God) and love. As a perfected one (kāmil) who understood this wisdom and pierced this pearl has said: “Longing for what has passed and occupying oneself with thoughts of what may come causes the blessing of the present moment to be lost and one’s sense of presence to vanish.”
Second; the danger that arises from not being content with the divine decree is to become deserving of Allah’s wrath. It is narrated from a verifier (muḥaqqiq) that when one of the prophets complained to his Lord about one of the harms that had befallen him, his Lord rebuked him, saying:
“Do you complain about Me? Whom do you complain to about whom? Do you not feel ashamed before Me? Do you not know that I do not love those who disparage or complain? For in My eternal knowledge, your salvation is only through what has befallen you in this world. So why do you resent My decree concerning you? Or do you wish that I should change the world for your sake? Or that I should alter the Preserved Tablet (Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ) for your desires? Then, should I arrange and judge all matters not according to My will, but according to yours? Should it be what you love, not what I love? Should all your wishes be fulfilled? (Is that so?) If, after this, such harmful thoughts pass through your qalb again, by My might and majesty, I will strip you of the robe of prophethood and cast you into Hell; I will not help you at all.”
Thus, an intelligent person takes a lesson from this story. For if such a tremendous policy is shown by the Exalted Truth (al-Ḥaqq) to His prophets and chosen servants, how will He treat His other servants? And if this corrupt thought stirs in your qalb, consider once more the word of the Exalted Truth! If Allah’s treatment is thus for a mere word or a doubt passing through the qalb, what will be the state of one who openly complains and laments to people, being displeased with his gracious and generous Lord?
If such a dreadful treatment is for one who, even once in his life, does not show contentment with the divine decree, what then will be the state of those who are never content with it throughout their lives?
Since the rebuke mentioned here is directed at the servant who complains to his Lord, what then will be the situation of those who complain about their Lord to other servants?
We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our nafs (lower selves), the wickedness of our deeds, and our actions that are contrary to proper etiquette.
“O Allah! Make us among those who are content with Your decree, patient in the face of tribulations, grateful for Your blessings, fleeing from all others to You, and who find presence with You day and night! O our Helper and O our Concealer of faults (our Lord)! (Accept our supplications.)”
Thus, contentment (riḍā) is to abandon displeasure. Displeasure is to consider something other than Allah’s decree as good and preferable for oneself in matters whose benefit or harm is not fully known.
If you ask [418], “Are not evils and sins also related to divine decree and destiny? In that case, how can a servant be content with evil?”
The answer is that “Contentment is required only for the divine decree (qaḍā). The decree itself is not evil. What is evil is only that which arises as a result of the decree.” From this it is understood that being content with the divine decree is not the same as being content with evil.
Poetry
1- Raḍītu bimā qassama’Llāhu lī
Wa fawwaḍtu amrī ilā Khāliqī
2- Laqad aḥsana’Llāhu fī-mā maḍā
Kadhālika yuḥsinu fī-mā baqā
Translation of the poetry
1- I am content with whatever Allah has apportioned for me. For I have entrusted all my affairs to the Creator.
2- My Lord has always shown kindness to His servant in the past. He will show kindness in the future as well; I believe so.
Three things are among the signs of contentment (riḍā):
1- Abandoning preference (choice) before the decree occurs.
2- Not feeling pain or distress after the decree has taken place.
3- Being able to find excitement and love even in tribulation.
For every state of the Beloved is precious and valuable to the lover.
Bayt (couplet)
La-in raḍiyat Laylā bi-qatlī fī’l-hawā
Fa-ahlan bimā tahwā wa sahlan bimā tarḍā
Translation of the bayt
If Laylā commands my death for pleasure, I am content with her pleasure; welcome to her wish and desire!
Verse
1- Ey der-īn marḥala-i tang-i bisāṭ
Mānde der-rabqa-i andūh u nashāṭ
2- Gāhī az-dawr-i falak khushnūdī
Gāhī āzorda u khishm ālūdī
3- Talḥ-rā bar dil-i khod shīrīn kun
Khurdan-i ān bihūshī āyīn kun
4- Nūk-i paykān-i qaḍā bar jān hur
Dar-jabīn chīn mafkan hamchun seyr
5- Rāfiʿ-i renc-i maqāmāt riḍāst
Fātiḥ-i ganj-i karāmāt riḍāst
6- Band bar band buwad kār-i jahān
Z’īn hawashā ki buwad dar tū nihān
7- Manih az-bu’l-hawashī bar khod band
Az-hawashā chu biburī paywand
8- Band-i ayyām gushād-i tū shavad
Seyr-i gardūn bi-murād tū shavad
9- Har ki dārad zi-murādāt farāgh
Nā-murādī na-nihad bi-rū-yi dāgh [262/a]
10- Nabūdash khāst dar-īn tang kafas
Ghayr-i chīzī ki Khudā khāhad u bas
11- Har chi āyad bi-vay az-band gushād
Bāshad andar-hama dar-ʿayn-i murād
12- Dil-i vay az-hama khurram gardad
Ranj u gam-i gird-i dilash gum gardad
13- Bā-hama bandagī āzād ziyad
Bā-sad andūh wa alam shād ziyad
14- Hīch shughlash na-shawad parda-i hush
Hīch talḥash na-kunad rūy-i tursh
15- Bukhl-rā ʿayn-i samāḥat bīnad
Dar-jirāhat hama rāhat bīnad
16- Har ch’ash az-ranj u balā pīsh āyad
Yak-ba-yak-rā bi-riḍā pīsh āyad
17- Ey riḍā-bakhsh-i riyāzat-kīshān
Rāyiz-i tabʿ-i riḍā-andīshān
18- Qibla-i himmat-i kār-āgāhān
Qāḍī-yi ḥājat-i ḥājat-hāhān
19- Dil-i rāzī bi-qaḍāyat talabam
Rawḍa-i ḥusn-i riyāzat talabam
20- Bī-riḍā-yi tū gul-i bāgh-i naʿīm
Hast bar sīna-i mā dāgh-i jahīm
21- Banda Jāmī ki talabkār-i riḍāst
Mānda dar-kashmakash-i khawf u rajāst
22- Dāman az-khawf u rajāyesh na-fishān
Bar sar-i khān-i riḍāyesh bi-nishān
23- Bi-nihash jām-i maḥabbat bar dast
Sāzash az-nashwa-i ān bī-hush u mast
Translation of the verse
1- O you, who in this narrow stage of the spread, remain caught in the knot of sorrow and joy.
2- Sometimes you are pleased with the turning of the heavens, sometimes you are wounded and filled with anger.
3- Make bitterness into honey for your qalb; make it your custom to eat it with sweetness.
4- Place the tip of the arrow of divine decree upon your soul; do not furrow your brow like a garlic bulb!
5- The one who removes the pain of maqām (spiritual station) is contentment (riḍā) and surrender; the one who opens the treasure of karāma (saintly wonders) is contentment and surrender.
6- The affairs of the world are entangled, link upon link, because of the desires hidden within you.
7- Do not bind yourself by following the desires of your nafs; cut your ties from desires and attach yourself to Allah.
8- The bonds tied by fate will be loosened; the heavens will begin to turn according to your wish.
9- Whoever is free from desires and wishes, disappointment cannot leave a scar upon his qalb.
10- In this narrow cage, nothing can be desired or wished for except what Allah wills.
11- Whatever comes to him, whether hidden or open, in all of it is the will of the Real (al-Ḥaqq).
12- His qalb becomes joyful with everything; the pain and sorrow in his qalb disappear.
13- Despite all his servitude, he lives freely; with a hundred sorrows and pains, he leads a happy life.
14- None of his occupations becomes a veil over his mind; no bitterness causes his face to frown.
15- He sees miserliness as generosity; even when wounded, he sees only comfort and ease.
16- Whatever tribulation and hardship comes before him, he shows contentment with each one.
17- O You who are pleased with those who endure asceticism! O You who are pleased with those who show contentment!
18- The qibla of aspiration for those who are aware of the reality! The fulfiller of the needs of those who seek!
19- I seek a qalb content with Your decree; I seek the beautiful garden of Your asceticism.
20- Without Your contentment, the rose of the garden of bliss is but a burning coal of Hell upon our breasts.
21- Your servant Jāmī, who seeks Your contentment, remains caught between fear and hope.
22- Do not leave him in the circle of fear and hope! Seat him at the head of the table of contentment.
23- Place the cup of love in his hand; intoxicate him with the rapture of that wine.