1st benefit..

إن حاتم الأصم كان من أصحاب شقيق البلخى رحمة الله تعالى عليهما
فسأله يوما قال : صاحبتنى منذ ثلاثين سنة ما حصلت؟ قال : حصلت ثمانى فوائد من العلم ، وهى تكفينى منه لأنى أرجو خلاصى ونجاتى فيها.

Hātim Al-Asam was among the friends of Shaqīq Al – Balkhi (may Allah have mercy on them both). One day Shaqīq asked Hātim: “You have accompanied me for thirty years; what have you gained?” Hātim replied: “I have gained eight benefits from the knowledge which suffices for me as I hope my success and safety are embodied in them.”

فقال شقيق: ما هى؟ قال حاتم

Shaqīq asked; “What are they?”

Hātim replied:

الفائدة الأولى: أنى نظرت إلى الخلق فرأيت لكل منهم محبوبا ومعشوقا يحبه ويعشقه، وبعض ذلك المحبوب يصاحبه إلى مرض الموت وبعضه يصاحبه إلى شفير القبر، ثم يرجع كله ، ويتركه فريدا وحيدا، ولا يدخل معه فى قبره منهم أحد فتفكرت وقلت: أفضل محبوب المرء ما يدخل معه فى قبره، ويؤنسه فيه، فما وجدته غير الأعمال الصالحة ، فأخذتها محبوبه لى ، لتكون لى سراجا فى قبرى، وتؤنسنى فيه ، ولا تتركنى فريدا.

The first benefit ~ I observed the creation and saw that everyone had a loved one and one passionately desired whom he loved and longed for. Some of the beloved accompany the lover up to the brink of sickness and death and others to the gate of the graveyard. All of them return and leave him there alone. No one goes into the tomb with him. I reflected on that and said to myself:

أفضل محبوب المرء ما يدخل معه فى قبره، ويؤنسه فيه

“The best beloved is that which would enter the tomb with the lover to console him”; I found nothing other than good works, so I took this as my beloved where with to illuminate my grave and to comfort me in it and not leave me alone.


رسالة من الامام الغزالي لتلميذه … أيها الولد
Extract from Ayyuhal Walad by Imām Abu Hāmid Al- Ghazāli