From the Secrets of the Letters of Ṣawm
Allah has granted me openings in the meanings of the letters from the word ṣawm (fasting), with these words:
Letter Ṣād: Points to patience (al-ṣabr), the Exalted said: “Certainly those who observe patience will be given their reward in full without measure.”[1] It is said they are those who observe the fast. I say those who fast were attributed with patience externally because they were patient in parting from food and drink and other than that from which the fasting person is prohibited. The reward is full without measure due to the difficulty of fasting. There is in a ḥadīth of the Messenger ﷺ: “Fasting is half of patience (al-ṣabr),” (narrated by Ibn Mājah). Patience (ṣabr) is the greatest characteristic which the human requires because it is the reason for felicity, source of spiritual ascension and the epitome of bravery, because by it the heroes are distinguished and known. Patience is steadfastness of the human and keeping his humanity, and his responding to the caller to Allah as opposed to responding to the caller to whims, lower-self and Satan. He hears with his heart: “respond to Allah’s herald”[2], so he responds, and repents to his Lord. And if the caller to whimsical desire calls him, he replies to it with the word of the Exalted: “and do not follow the selfish desire, lest it should lead you astray from Allah’s path.”[3] And if the lower-self calls him, he replies to it with the word of the Exalted: “Surely, man’s inner self often incites to evil”[4]. And if the Satan whispers to him, he replies with the word of the Exalted: “Surely Shayṭān (Satan) is an enemy for you. So, take him as an enemy.”[5] He will be with his patience, steadfast with his humanity i.e. he won’t shift from it to savagery by betrayal, or to beastliness by following passionate desires, or to perpetration of violations, separating people, bad conduct towards them, efforts in corrupting their community and all that contradicts the requirements of humanity which Allah the Exalted favored him with: “O mankind, worship your Lord who created you and those before you,”[6] Meaning, worship Allah who graced you with humanity, with bodies and beautiful appearances combined, and He blew into them a soul which inclines to intimacy, virtuous acts and gaining sciences. And He created those who were before you in the same manner. If they were beasts then you would have also been born as beasts, and the beast’s image is either frightening or not friendly. So, if He had blown your souls into the bodies of beasts then you would have fled and been angry at the bodies, let alone acquaint yourself with other than you. Glory be to the One Who knows the nature of souls and what they like, so He created bodies for them in the best form, in the image that Allah eternally knew, that if the souls saw them then they would like them and if it was not for that, they would have been in the most severe torment.
Also, with patience he becomes one who answers the summon to the Real (glorified and exalted is He) when his lower self incites to evil and his devil with wrongdoing, so he is patient upon always obeying his Lord and upon leaving the passionate desires of his lower self. With his patience he goes against the commands of his lower self which is from the worst of enemies to him, and which does not command except with evil, as long as it is not granted mercy. If Allah shows it mercy, then it is guided to Him by His light: “Allah guides to His light whomsoever He wills.”[7] At that time the nafs will see the light of obedience so it will command to it and hasten to it, and it will see the darkness of disobedience so it will forbid it and flee from it. “He said, “I seek refuge with Allah. Surely, he (your husband) is my master. He has given me a good lodging. Indeed, the wrongdoers do not prosper.”[8] He will contradict his devil when he brings him evil, vile deeds and wrongdoing; because the devil always and forever tries to harm the human and destroy him, make him sad and fear poverty, make him disbelieve and sin openly, make him leave the prayer, Zakāt, Ḥajj and fasting. So, every time a person wants to perform prayer, if he is someone who neglects his prayers, he says to him: “Why are you praying now? You have abandoned the prayer for a long time, what will the people say to you? It is better that you leave it, as is your habit in case the people will laugh at you.” And if he is someone who prays regularly, he will say to him when the time of prayer enters: “There is still time left, leave it for a little, then a little bit more until you rest and pray the due prayer after sleeping” until the amount of time lengthens and the time of prayer finishes and so the slave ends up under the threat which is in the word of the Exalted: “Woe to those who pray. Who are neglectful of their prayer.”[9] Woe: (Wayl) it is a valley in Jahannam for those who delay the obligatory (prayer) until its time elapses? He (the devil) says to the wealthy: “Indeed Zakāt diminishes your wealth, so don’t give Zakāt. All the people have already abandoned Zakāt, so will you alone give Zakāt? Be like the others from your community and do not isolate yourself from them,” until years pass by him without paying Zakāt, so then he falls into the threat that is in the word of the Exalted: “And those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah – give them tidings of a painful punishment”, (two verses)[10]. And he (the devil) says to the one who wants to perform Ḥajj: “Delay it to the next year, you are still young, instead of Ḥajj buy some land or a shop,” “You intend to have the stuff of this world, while Allah intends the Hereafter (for you).”[11] So he remains like that until years pass and he has not performed Ḥajj and has gathered abundant wealth, and if he were to hear the word of Allah the Exalted: “And pilgrimage to the House is a duty unto Allah for mankind, for he who can find a way to it. As for he who disbelieves, (let him know that) lo! Allah is Independent of (all) creatures,”[12] He listens to it as though he never heard it and starts to resort to tricks like the tricks of a fox and presents excuses dictated to him by the devil while the Compassionate already knows their falsehood. And he (the devil) says to the fasting person: “Don’t fast, while hiding from the people in case your body becomes weak or feign illness so that you can stop fasting for two or three days,” so he carries on with him until he plunges him in what Allah has forbidden of fast breaking and so he falls into al-ḥamīm (the boiling water of hell).
The perfect, intelligent, and patient believer is the one who responds to his Lord and contradicts his lower-self, whimsical desire, and devil, and hastens to do good deeds before death; for indeed lifespans are not guaranteed, and there is no security from the fate of death. So, the gatherer of wealth dies and leaves his wealth behind, and the gatherer of good deeds dies, and his deeds are buried with him, so he knows his state. al-Bukhārī (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
Make use of your free time with the virtue of rukūʿ (bowing) for it may be that your death will be sudden.
How many healthy persons without any illness have we seen his noble soul has departed suddenly?
And in my Lām poem:
And remember death and do not be heedless for there is not
Someone more ignorant than the heedless from death descending
Using up his time accumulating wealth
You have wasted your life on something flawed (khalal)
Letter Wāw: Alludes to scrupulousness (warāʼ), which is taking the most cautious approach in acts of worship, sincerity in dealings with others, taking the self to account at its due time, avoiding doubtful matters and turning to Allah in all states. For this reason, he ﷺ said: “Scrupulousness (warāʼ) is the master of action,” narrated by al-Tirmidhī. When Shaykh al-Saqā (may Allah grant him mercy) was asked about scrupulousness in these times, he was reading ḥadīth in al-Azhar al-Sharīf and he had just come across this ḥadīth, so he said: “Like Shaykh Muḥammad ʿIllīsh”, for from his scrupulousness was that he used to have a bag in which he would carry his shoes when he entered the masjid, and he was firm in religion and was not affected in the way of Allah by the blame of a critic, and he has many unprecedented books with the light of scrupulousness shining from them, and the fragrance of sincerity can be smelt from them, may Allah be pleased with him. By fasting the heart softens and fills up with the fear of Allah (the Mighty and Majestic), from there originates perfection of action and leaving what is doubtful in it and taking the most cautious approach. By taking the most careful approach, the one who does it will be upon certainty about the validity of his deeds with all the Imāms, as is the habit of the righteous, as is abandoning excessiveness in speech, sleep, food, and drink. Also, from scrupulousness is to not occupy oneself with that which does not concern him, hastening to benefit Muslims, to have sincerity for the religion and homeland and to ponder over what will benefit the community. And from scrupulousness is to sell oneself in that path, for the scrupulous believer is he who makes his self and his wealth for the sake of Allah and his homeland. As for the one who has no solicitude (ghīra) for his religion, land, and honour then he is not scrupulous, rather he is not a complete believer. For the scrupulous one is at the forefront in an encounter, daring when the two armies meet, and who sees, in the sacrificing of himself, the power of the One who gives life after it, so He will grant it to him generously for the sake of that: “and they give preference over themselves, even though they are in poverty.”[13]
All of that we gain by fasting, which unveils for us the sciences of the soul which are personal, eternal attainments for it (the soul) by Godly instructions. Allah the Exalted sent down the soul and blew it into this body to manifest sciences and perfections. Its sciences have been veiled by the thickness of the body, and its perfections by the darkness of the lower self, which is illuminated by fasting. And fasting also thins down the thickness of the body with activity and work, because every time the thickness of the body thins then the power of the soul manifests, which is characterised by activity, strength and speed, and every time the darkness of the self lessens, then the perfection of the soul and its amazing secrets are manifested.
I said in my tā’ poem, called “Fatḥu l-Bābi ilā Ṭarīqi l-Aḥbāb”:
The soul has come to you and it is honorable
So be gentle with it by not letting it see you in baseness
And rise with it to the way above wearing
The garment of humility supported by honour
Then you will be helped by the presence of Allah at His door
The people of fasting will triumph on the Day of Hardship
Far be it that the sleepers have a share in what
The one who is habitually awake at dusk, finds Paradise
Letter Mīm: An allusion to muḥsin (one who is excellent or beneficent), meaning a possessor of excellence, which is a matter containing all goodness. It is also being good with Allah, meaning obeying His command and avoiding His prohibition. And being good to the Messenger ﷺ, meaning obeying his command, avoiding what he has prohibited and following his actions ﷺ.
Then al-iḥsān (excellence or beneficence) to the self, is to take it to the path of goodness and to keep it away from the path of evil.
And al-iḥsān to created beings is good behavior with them, doing that which is beneficial to them and leaving that which is harmful to them.
Al-iḥsān to animals is to not burden them with more than they can bear and to give them what is required of food, drink, shade, and rest.
Al-iḥsān to animals to be slaughtered is to sharpen the butcher’s knife and to put the slaughter animal at ease.
And if anything is killed which is permissible to kill, like harmful predatory animals and insects, then iḥsān is to take the swiftest approach in annihilating its life without torture.
Al-iḥsān to the wife is to shoulder that which causes her harm and pain and carry out his duty towards her as much as he is able.
Al-iḥsān to children is to take care of their subsistence and give them a good upbringing and education.
Al-iḥsān to parents is to obey their command in that which they see is helpful to the religion and helpful to them, and in that which brings about benefit to it and to them.
Al-iḥsān to full brothers is to respect the older of them and be merciful to the younger of them and to look at him with the gaze of a compassionate parent at his child.
In a ḥadīth: “Verily Allah prescribed al-iḥsān for everything,” narrated by Muslim, Abū Dāwūd and al-Tirmidhī, and Allah said: “Verily Allah commands justice and al-iḥsān,”[14]
So, the one who has no justice has no iḥsān, because justice is to give every possessor of right their right. The just one (al-ʿādil) is he who carries out the rights of the Creator and creation and puts things in their proper places. Thus, the one who did iḥsān in the improper place is not just, or muḥsin, because his iḥsān turns into a misdeed, and his justice turns into oppression as al-iḥsān is in everything based on justice. How excellent is al-iḥsān that is preceded by justice! Now, if he were to take the necessary expenditure incumbent upon him for his parents or the necessary expenditure incumbent upon him for his wife and children and give it in charity, then is he just or an oppressor? A muḥsin or a musīʼ (wrongdoer)? He would be a sinful and oppressive wrongdoer, especially if they were poor or in difficulty.
Al-iḥsān also applies to the slave witnessing his Lord or knowing that his Lord sees him.
Therefore, fasting is iḥsān because it is iḥsān to the self which produces iḥsān to others.
Full document can be found here: The Secrets of Fasting
[1] Sūra al-Zumar – verse (10).
[2] Sūrah al-Aḥqāf – verse (31).
[3] Sūra Ṣād – verse (26).
[4] Sūra Yūsuf – verse (53).
[5] Sūra Fāṭir – verse (6).
[6] Sūra al-Baqara – verse (21).
[7] Sūra al-Nūr – verse (35).
[8] Sūra Yūsuf – verse (23).
[9] Sūra al-Māʿūn – verses (4-5).
[10] Sūra al-Tawba – verses (34-35).
[11] Sūra al-Anfāl – verse (67).
[12] Sūra Āli ʿImrān – verse (97).
[13] Sūra al-Ḥashr – verse (9).
[14] Sūra al-Naḥl – verse (90).