* O young man, beware of envy for it is a bad companion. It was envy that wrecked the house of Iblīs, destroyed him, rendered him one of the people of the Fire, and made him cursed by Allah (mighty and glorified is He), His angels, His prophets (Allah’s prayer and peace be on them), and His creatures. How can a sensible person be involved in envy when he has heard these words of Allah (high is He): “We have apportioned between them their livelihood in the life of this world” (from 43.32), and “or do they envy people for what Allah has given them?” (from 4.54); these words of the Prophet (Allah’s prayer and peace be on him): “Envy consumes good deeds as the fire consumes firewood”; and these words of one of the learned scholars: “How good envy is! How just it is! It kills first the envier!” The envier is in fact objecting to Allah (mighty and glorified is He) and disputing with Him about His actions, creatures, and distribution of shares.

* How long will it be before you give up envying your brothers and hoping to obtain what they have? Woe to you! You envy your Muslim brother for his wife, children, house, and worldly possessions, although all those are already created to be his and you have no share in them. You hope to have his wife, although she is created to be his in this world and in the hereafter. You wish for affluence, although it has already been decreed that straitened circumstances will be your lot. You will be punished and hated because you quest what has not been allotted to you. How enthusiastic you are in seeking this world despite the fact that you will not have of it other than what has been allotted to you! O Allah, awaken our hearts from their forgetfulness, awaken us so that we heed to You, put us at Your service, and “give us good in this world and good in the hereafter and protect us from the torment of the Fire.”

       
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Copyright © 2008 Shetha Al-Dargazelli & Louay Fatoohi
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