Lack of success, distortion of opinion, obscurity of truth, and corruption of the heart.
Fading of reputation, waste of time, and people's aversion.
And estrangement between the servant and their Lord.
And the blocking of answered prayers and hardness of the heart.
And the removal of blessings in sustenance and lifespan, and deprivation of knowledge.
And the clothing of humiliation, the enemy's scorn, and tightness of the chest.
And the trial of bad companions who corrupt the heart and waste time.
And prolonged anxiety, sorrow, harshness of living, and worry of the mind.
They arise from sin and neglect of the remembrance of Allah.
Just as crops arise from water and burning from fire.
And the opposites of these arise from obedience.
Blessed is the one who is fair with his Lord.
So he acknowledges his ignorance in his knowledge, the flaws in his actions, the defects in his self, his negligence in his duty, and the injustice in his dealings.
So if He takes him to account for his sins, he sees His justice,
And if He does not take him to account for it, he sees His grace.
And if he performs a good deed, he sees it as from His favor and charity upon him,
So if He accepts it, it is a further favor and charity,
And if He rejects it, it is because something like it is not fit to be presented to Him.
And if he commits a bad deed, he sees it as resulting from His abandonment of him and His forsaking him,
And that is from His justice upon him.
Thus, he sees in that his need for his Lord, and his injustice to himself.
So if He forgives it for him, it is by His pure kindness and generosity.
And the essence of the matter is that he sees his Lord as nothing but good, and himself as nothing but wrong.
Thus, he sees everything that pleases him as from the grace of Allah, and everything that displeases him as from his sins and the justice of Allah upon him.
