The Devils Deception by Imam Ibn AL-Jawzi

T H E D E V I L ' S
D E C E P T I O N S
Some of them also become very fond of their actions to the point
of believing that they are from the al-Awtdd ( .)\;J 'JI) the Poles.147 They
think that they can walk on water. And if their du'd was not answered,
they become disgruntled. It is as if they were employees
seeking their salaries. Instead, they should realise that they are servants
who should never boast about their actions. They should be
occupied with concerns about their possible deficiencies. This was
why some righteous persons used to say: "I seek Allah's forgiveness
from the lack of truthfulness." Another was asked: Have you done
something believing that it will be accepted? He answered: "The
only action that I feel will be accepted is my fear that my actions will
not accepted."
And from Iblis's deception of ascetics is to convince them to act
upon what they feel is right, not based on the opinions of learned
people.
Ibn 'Aqil said: Abu IsQ.aq al-Khazzaz was a righteous man, he was
the first to teach me Allah's book. During Ramaqan he used to not
talk except with the verses of the Qur'an. So when he would ask for
permission to enter he would say:
and used to tell his son:
--:--.IJ\r !j; 9!-;I
"Enter upon them through the gate."
[al-Maidah (5): 23),
147 Al- Watad refers to the peg that is _
driven into the earth to support a tent, its
plural is awtad. In the terminology of the Jufis its refers to four individuals who are
located at the four extremes of the earth - the north, south, east and west - and it
is through them that Allah preserves those regions of the earth due to their being
the place to which Allah, the Exalted, looks.
Refer to: 'Lisan al-Arab' [3/444]; 'Jstiltipat as-$ijryyah' [p. 7].
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