Sage Counsels
ارشاداتِ حکیمانہ
" تضرع و انکسار عبدیت کی جان ہے "
"Supplication and humility are the very soul of servitude."
علم و عمل کی دنیا ہے غفلت باعثِ ذِلت ہے
Knowledge and action are the world — heedlessness is the cause of disgrace.
تعظیم شخصی کی انتہاء بُت پرستی ہوتی ہے
The extreme of personality-worship becomes idol-worship.
صراطِ مستقیم پر چلنے والا ہی پُل صراط پر سے گزر جائے گا
Only he who walks the Straight Path (ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm) shall pass over the Bridge (Pul-e-Ṣirāṭ).
The Irshādāt — Wise Counsels
What follows is a collection of irshādāt ḥakīmāna (sage counsels and wise aphorisms) of Ḥaḍrat Baḥr al-ʿUlūm (raḥimahu'llāh), recorded and numbered in sequence.
1. "Whatever thing troubles your heart — abandon it."
2. "Keep your heart in such a state that if all people were to stand before you, you would feel no shame before any of them."
3. "Ask your own heart; seek counsel from your own conscience."
4. "The scholar of evil deeds is a lantern in darkness."
5. "If a foundation stone is laid crookedly, every wall built upon it will likewise be crooked."
6. "Repeatedly eating little amounts is a sign of being small-hearted."
7. "Just speak kindly — for noble speech is itself good character."
8. "Bad character alienates everyone."
9. "To nourish a serpent and keep it is contrary to foresight and sound judgment."
10. "Thinking about others' faults — this too is a form of ghībat (backbiting) of one's own household."
11. "If expenditure exceeds income, a few days will bring poverty."
12. "Poverty is no shame, but to complain of it is not fitting."
13. "Excessive caution leads to estrangement."
14. "If something petty comes up, begin resolving it from within yourself."
15. "No one's counsel can prevent what the madhhab (school of law) has declared lawful."
16. "Think of the enemy as insignificant."
17. "Do not be indifferent towards beggars (chinggārī)."
18. "Evil repays all bad deeds — meet it with good when you have the courage."
19. "What is heard through the mouths of two or three witnesses cannot go unheard by the ears."
20. "One lie brings ten lies in its wake."
21. "Do not make a habit of unnecessary things."
22. "Remember — time bears witness that God Most High objects to evil."
23. "Wisdom is priceless."
24. "Man is the locus of forgetfulness, the creature of the earth."
25. "Were man never to forget, he would become an angel."
26. "Even in a state of enmity, speak in such a way that if friendship were to arise, that speech should not be a source of shame."
27. "Proximity is due to the one whose love draws close."
28. "Before choosing a friend, first investigate what that person has done with their own kin."
29. "Gold guards its own protection."
30. "Call a beautiful woman a black soldier — consider her gold."
31. "He whose hunger it is — that is his pot."
32. "Eating has accustomed man — it is for man's sake that food was made."
33. "For the stomach, food and water; for the body, clothing and shelter — everything else is superfluous."
34. "A handsome person should not flaunt his own blemishes, and an ugly person should go about concealing them — yet he should let his good character be known, so that people recognise him by it."
35. "The nose and ears are always in the know."
36. "The future remains in darkness."
37. "An unbridled horse will fall itself and throw its rider."
38. "Count and recount."
39. "The habit of weeping saves one from sins, as does the company of virtuous women."
40. "To expose another's genuine fault is also a kind of ghībat."
41. "To falsely accuse another is slander (buhtān)."
42. "Agree on some things; keep some for yourself; and for the sake of dependants, let some go."
43. "As you go, so will you find — as you are buried, so will you be resurrected."
44. "Ingratitude towards a benefactor and thanklessness is the worst moral sin."
45. "The meaning of shukr (gratitude) is appreciation."
46. "To receive a blessing without acknowledgment is ingratitude towards God's favour."
47. "Remember two things and forget two: recall your own good deeds to others — forget; recall others' good deeds to you — remember. Forget your own good deeds done to others; remember the good deeds others have done to you."
48. "One day is one life; eat something, drink something, save a little with God."
49. "Your enemy is your reason's entertainer; your enemy's reason is the wine of grapes — the wine is bitter; it will sting your tongue."
50. "God has given us two ears and one tongue — listen to two things and speak only one."
51. "The hunter who eats what he hunts does not eat at others' expense."
52. "At the time of eating, the five fingers become twelve."
53. "A prudent physician (ḥakīm) — a prudent guardian; a prudent soldier (mulāḥiẓa) — a prudent faith."
54. "A beggar (bhaggār) is a wanderer."
55. "I want what I do not want — it is not possible." (Ḥaḍrat Ṣiddīqī)
56. "What will be — will come to pass."
57. "When it is His will that sets things moving — who can carry out one's own will?" (Ḥaḍrat Ṣiddīqī)
58. "Gratitude to God cannot be sufficiently rendered."
59. "Be in such a state that an inconvenience to you is also an inconvenience to another."
60. "Stay close together, like two bricks that brace each other and strengthen the wall."
61. "To make definitive pronouncements about the inner thoughts of others in matters of knowledge is a pretension to omniscience."
62. "To say 'God' — without attributes — risks falling into shirk (associating partners with God)."
63. "The lies of a jester are not small."
64. "Good nature does not exist without it — bad temper does not mix." (Ḥaḍrat Ṣiddīqī)
65. "Do not sit learning from great scholars — investigate and ask."
66. "To remind someone of one's favour — that favour is annulled."
67. "Do your work with sincerity — that work will be free from ostentation and hypocrisy."
68. "Sitting is better than running."
69. "Whoever suffers more will be more beloved."
70. "Say the darud (invocation of blessings on the Prophet ﷺ) — from Min al-Janna wa'l-Nās."
71. "Be manly in conduct; shun the cowardly; remain far from their boundaries."
72. "If your friends are bad and there is also an enemy — remain heedless of even that enemy."
73. "When fire becomes inflamed, the dry stick must be removed."
74. "When corruption spreads, the sinner is concealed and the virtuous person is unseen."
75. "Keep yourselves clean; wash dirty garments and remove them."
76. "A sword's wound heals, but a tongue's wound is difficult to heal."
77. "When walking little, one becomes weary."
78. "The servant's two hands are empty."
79. "God alone remains; the rest is but appearance."
80. "The poet sees as the painter sees — and describes it as the painter paints."
81. "The frontier of faqr (spiritual poverty) has grown from the frontier of kufr (unbelief)."
82. "Love and mercy descend from heaven."
83. "O people! Become well-skilled in absorbing the darkness of faults."
84. "Silver and gold are kept and guarded — but should one be indifferent to a woman's guardianship?"
85. "A sharp sword cuts everything — but cannot cut silk."
86. "One who went into the jungle — what has he achieved?"
87. "Our egg of thousands is priceless."
88. "In the currents of a river, a sharp sword is useless."
89. "Esteem depends on conclusion."
90. "Let no good deed come your way without grasping it — and let no good deed of ours go to waste."
91. "When the eye sees what the intellect does not — and the intellect does its work where the eye does not — look at this from two angles. The shadow of a wall moves, but it is not known from the shadow that the wall is moving; yet the intellect judges that the shadow must move — that is, the intellect is the means, and remaining directed towards the Prophet ﷺ is the goal."
92. "The ʿālam (world) takes meanings from forms — one can render many meanings from many forms. One form is grasped to take from it another form, and from the second form new ideas are born — and this is the foundation of qayyūmiyyat".
93. "The mutghayyir (changing) and ghayr mutghayyir (unchanging): the body changes and the anā (self/ego) does not change — therefore the body is material and the anā is supra-material."
94. "God — the All-Dividing — distributes to you; He will take from the hands of those who would divide and place it in your own hands."
95. "From proper relationship, nisbat (spiritual connection) arises. Nisbat is in the form; waḥdat (unity) is in ḥusn (beauty). The feet remain on the ground, the voice remains — strikes are in the breath; without waḥdat, unease does not go away. Iṭmiʾnān (tranquillity) itself is the sign of faith."
96. "Contingent events are to primordial religion as accidentals are to eternal essence. Contingent events are to primordial religion as accidentals to eternal essence — the primordial is to religion as the antique is to the temporal — the antique in relation to religion is as ancient cold."
97. "There are several divisions of existence (wujūd): 1. External existence; 2. Existence in imagination; 3. Existence in the intellect; 4. Existence in writing; 5. Analogical existence (wujūd-e-majāzī). The highest existence is able to remain while the lower forms of existence are abolished. External existence is manifest externally. What is seen externally: after that, in the mind's image comes — for example: to see water in a prism and relate it to water is what is called wujūd-e-ẓannī (conjectural existence). Existence of the intellect (wujūd-e-ʿaqlī) is an absolute, uniform mental image — this is the intellect's existence. For instance: wrath (ghaḍab) and its likes are the intellect's existence — it is not necessary to boil blood for it; by way of its likeness (tashbīh) it is meant — existence in writing (wujūd-e-shatmī) is an example."
98. "He and all things — what is intended is existence; and God Most High Himself is also included in this."
99. "Inna'llāha ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr (God has power over all things) — what is intended is possible things; a servant is mumkin (contingent/possible). The Divine Essence is not subject to Divine Power. God Most High is incapable of change — we cannot be self-sufficient, nor can God change Himself."
100. "Power (qudrat) does not relate to the impossible. Power does not come from the impossible — the impossible does not arise from necessity. First comes the cause of origination; it cannot be created from anything else; and after the end, no miracle can be brought into existence by anyone."
101. "What is knowledge? Some say: knowledge is a light, and there is a relationship and connection between the ʿālim (the knowing) and the maʿlūm (the known). Some say: after coming to the ʿālim the known gives the known a manifestation of light. Some say: knowledge is God's attribute — ḥuḍūrī (presential) knowledge. Some say: knowledge is of two kinds — of the ʿālim and of the maʿlūm — that which goes on outside of these two is outside knowledge. By way of this knowledge it is both bāwāsiṭa (mediated) and bilāwāsiṭa (unmediated). By way of knowledge, what comes into the mind of the ʿālim is its own — ādī knowledge is ḥuḍūrī and unmediated knowledge."
102. "What is taṣawwur (conception) and what is taṣdīq (assent/affirmation)? Taṣawwur is the conception of something (ghayr murakkab, simple). Taṣawwur of a thing; taṣawwur of nisbat (murakkab, compound). Taṣdīq of a thing without assertion — ẓann (conjecture), shakk (doubt), wahm (supposition), taẓayyun — stronger taṣawwur. Taḥlīl (analysis) and taṣdīq — ʿilm. Older generations have taken these to be kinds of knowledge. We too accepted this — taṣdīq (assent) is from reasoning; from certainty — yaqīn. Some people say: not all kinds of knowledge are from the intellect. Some say: only logic gives yaqīn. Taḥqīq (yaqīn) and ʿilm — not knowledge. Taḥqīq and yaqīn-e-ba'd taḥqīq (verified certainty) — ʿilm. Not certainty. With them the yaqīn and taṣdīq have a separate state — this is called lāḥiqī idrāk. Most investigators consider the idea of taṣdīq as verified certainty (yaqīn ba'd taḥqīq) — knowledge; without verified certainty — not knowledge. Some say: action begins from start — until action is taken, knowledge of result is not there; rather, taṣdīq of the knowledge is not achieved, but becomes obtained."
103. "Plants are eaten by animals; animals are eaten by humans; humans become food for God. Man becomes close to God. In each thing there is a single life, and in a plant life is better than in a mineral; and in an animal life is better than in a plant; and in a human life is better than in an animal."
104. "Before me a pleasant dwelling lies there — the letters ʿayn are black. In gathering, I see what joins together — look at the figure of the letters at this time. There are gatherings, in which the letters break apart — gatherings come apart, letters join — worship becomes false and wisdom departs."
105. "Baygānagī (estrangement) is of two kinds — God's grace and generosity saves one from sins, and that person is innocent. It distances that person from denial, and this is the rank of a prophet. Some pious elders are indeed such people, because they consider the guarded person (maḥfūẓ, i.e. one divinely protected from sin) to be innocent — however, for the guarded person to be considered innocent is not possible; innocence is impossible in practice, though as an actuality it does not occur."
106. "In a certain matter the preordainment of destiny becomes manifest — and that thing comes to present itself so that one should say — "If God wills." If it fails, management will follow. For this — that Umm al-Kitāb (the Mother of the Book) was thus the management."
107. "If someone were to say such things (99) to a Muslim that are understood by an unbeliever, and there is one sign of this that leads to belief, then they could become a believer — if God is not near, you would become a disbeliever. Seek repentance — and by repentance bring faith back again."
108. "The young person should grow a beard. Shaving it off is impermissible — and for a young person to appear beardless without compulsion or excuse is disrespectful; it is ḥarām to comply for the sake of the Sunna — and passing one's years for the sake of acquiescence is forbidden."
109. "Recall your past life's good deeds and distressing moments — 'that person used to say' — now that person has departed; 'now let us tell you what kind of person is the present one'."
110. "I am not dying."
111. "Those who serve grow in rank. Those who give are served."
112. "Taqwā (God-consciousness and piety) of the heart is the quality that satisfies the shade."
113. "An empty imagination remains full of imagination's clutter."
114. "Zeal — from zeal is born valour."
115. "A person's little sleep — the worst verse of sleep."
116. "What comes — hold out your hand and take it; what goes — do not look at it."
117. "The treasure of qanāʿat (contentment) is never empty."
118. Namaḳ-e-ārā'ī ā qā kī — "It is a need beyond one's own needs." (Ḥaḍrat Ṣiddīqī)
119. "Knowledge is not something to be given to another — worldly knowledge is from the work of the worldly and none of its importance is discerned. Not realising its importance is a sign of foolishness. The foolish person talks like a chatterbox animal — a fully ʿāqil (rational) person is a complete human being — he accommodates fools as one would other animals."
120. "You have bound yourself to the law's constraint — so the law has also left your right of access to God."
121. "Words have three letters and the middle is empty — begin reading without a dot, three times hollow."
122. "In the predestination of your horoscope (zanjīr), God will grant acceptance to your supplication."
123. "In exchange for supplication God Most High gives the best in the world. Dua (supplication) is accepted — if it is in accord with the order of the world-system, then it is fulfilled in the world — and if not in accord, it is stored for the Hereafter. Supplication is accepted at all times."
124. "The original principle of a thing is that all its aspects must be established against it."
125. "Bidʿat (blameworthy innovation) is that which opposes the objectives of Islam."
126.
یہ میں ہوں مرد کا قول پدر فروشی ڈفنت ہے
"This is the saying of a man — to sell one's father's honour is a disgrace." (Ḥaḍrat Ṣiddīqī)
127. "Indeed your ancestors did good for you, but what did you do? You will do good work — but you cannot prove it without evidence. Good work will come upon you as a result — and your disposition will witness it with its tongue. Those who bear testimony by word of mouth are—
بندگی باید پیمبر زادگی در کار نیست
'Servitude is required — being born of prophets is of no account.'
128. "The tongue, though small, is a terrible calamity."
129. "After trial, regret is a mark of disgrace."
130. "Distress is the mark of firm men."
131. "We are all descendants of the Prophet ﷺ — what privilege has been obtained through him? — fanāʾ (annihilation) and baqāʾ (subsistence), that which is attained from him, must be made known."
132. "The ʿāqil (rational person) speaks understanding — the fool speaks understanding without comprehending it."
133. "Before entering, look at the route of exit."
134. "The servant is always a scatterer."
135. "The idle person is in actual laziness."
136. "Scattered sustenance — scattered heart."
137. "Bribery if present is an unlawful intercession — what is its use?"
138. "Unconditional is also not conditional."
139. "At the boundary, stop the advancing fire."
140. "First joy, then darvīsh."
141.
القرضن مقراض الصحبۃ
"Debt is the scissors of companionship." (Arabic proverb)
142. "Good conduct is a thousand blessings."
143. "Closed mouth — hundred thousand."
144. "Wherever it goes and whatever it has — it is always a companion."
145. "Patience is the first hour."
146. "When the root remains, the branches do not go; the root stays, and whenever it turns, it will return to the origin."
147. "Specific walāya (sainthood) is stronger than general walāya."
148. "Until the time comes that the impossible becomes possible, it remains a metaphor (majāz)."
149. "The real meaning is truly there — metaphorical meanings too can be metaphors — these metaphors are also used without doubt and the talk is metaphorical."
150. "The absence of describing the qualities of a present person — there is no need to describe the qualities of the dhikr (one being mentioned)."
151. "Regard it thus: only aims, purposes, and expression are taken into account."
152. "Each branch, in the condition of being its solution, will be acted upon — the ancient will persist."
153. "Ancient priority must be observed."
154. "Contingent events are from original non-existence — an event that can be proved in time: as long as its opposite is not established, it will continue to be established."
155. "New things will be related through proximity."
156. "Against a particular there is no objection to ijtihād (independent juridical reasoning)."
157. "Against the text (naṣṣ) there can be no qiyās (analogical reasoning)."
158. "One ijtihād cannot break another's ijtihād."
159. "Difficulty creates ease — and hardship creates fluency and breadth."
160. "Do not bring harm upon harm (ḍarar)."
161. "When the benefit (manfaʿa) is removed, the prohibition is lifted again."
162. "One ḍarar (harm) cannot be removed by another ḍarar."
163. "Ḍarar-e-ʿāmm (public harm) is bearable for the sake of ḍarar-e-khāṣṣ (private harm)."
164. "Warding off corruption is better than attaining benefit."
165. "As long as possible, the ḍarar should be removed."
166. "A public need (ḥājat-e-ʿāmma) or special need is the level of necessity."
167. "One's own harm cannot be given to another as a harm."
168. "Whose taking is unlawful — giving it is also unlawful."
169. "Custom (ʿādat) too is itself a ruler (ḥākim) — whatever custom prohibits it also prohibits."
170. "Times and circumstances also change the rulings (aḥkām)."
171. "The real meaning: if the custom is contrary to ʿādat, then it becomes worth abandoning; custom's esteem and predominance is the criterion — and the rare case is not the criterion."
172. "Whatever is well known by convention (ʿurf), it is conditional."
173. "Tābiʿ's (subordinate's) ruling is in the ruling — and the ruling of the following cannot be made a separate ruling."
174. "Silence (chup) is worth a hundred thousand."
175.
نامرد مرتا روز ہے مردوں کی موت اک بار ہے
A coward dies every day — a man of valour dies but once.
ہرگز نہیں مرتا ہے وہ مرلے کو جو تیار ہے
He who is prepared to die — he never truly dies.
یا آبرو ہو زندگی بے آبرو بے کار ہے
Either let life have honour — a life without honour is worthless.
گرہمت مردانہ ہو آسان ہر دشوار ہے
If one has manly courage — every hardship becomes easy.
176. "The conversation you have with another is far better."
177. "Do not run your mouth without a bridle."
178. "Haste is from Shayṭān (shaytān)."
179. "Honesty and love even pacify an enemy."
180. "God has given — so you also feed others."
181. "Those who speak too much make very many mistakes."
182. "At the time of speaking, weigh the words and test them."
183. "If there is love, equity is not needed."
184. "It is better to be something than nothing."
185. "Truth's victory is final."
186. "A friend is one who proves useful in time."
187. "Governance runs on maṣlaḥat (expedient policy/public interest)."
188. "Whoever is truly informed about the truth — the sign of his establishment at that station will emerge."
189. "A book is a great address."
190. "Whatever is firmly established in the heart — it is established by experience."
191. "Whoever profits by increasing — will also suffer loss by increasing."
192. "The compound offender (murtakib-e-faʿl), even if he repents, will receive punishment (compensation)."
193. "Whoever asks another for something at the right time — he will remain deprived before the asking."
194. "Flattery (taklīf-e-mālāyuṭāq) is not proper."
195. "Limits and suspicion become protectors."
196. "A deputy's work will be understood by the agent."
197. "Worldly transactions or general customs are contrary to the ethics of noble character — they will be deemed contrary to law."
198. "General custom is preferred over special custom."
199. "Customs and traditions hold the authority of law — accepted customs circulating continuously bear the force of action."
200. "The government's duty is to prevent conspiracies against itself."
201. "Every person has the right to protect their own property by transferring it."
202. "Every person has the right that if the government has done damage, he may demand its compensation."
203. "Improvement of moral character or statesmanship is the most important right."
204. "The law of a fool cannot be an excuse for a sound-minded person."
205. "Accidental and coincidental misfortunes carry no liability for anyone."
206. "No one is responsible for the freedom and willingness of another's action."
207. "In a contract in which an impossible condition is made, that contract is void."
208. "The continued, fruitless pursuit (of one who fails) falls with death."
209. "Every person can compel another to the extent one can compel oneself."
210. "No person can be compelled to sell their ancestral property at a proper price."
211. "In governance, every person is an offender (mujrim) until their acquittal is established."
212. "In justice, every person is innocent until their crime is established."
213. "The doubtful (mushtabih) will be given the benefit of the doubt."
214. "The witness who does not produce evidence — he is responsible for the loss."
215. "Acquitting a hundred offenders is better — yet to punish a single innocent is worse."
216. "To give again and again is not good — to give nothing at all is also not good."
217. "I am the treasurer — who will fill the pot?"
218. "Government theft of communal property makes the whole nation criminal."
219. "In the time of war there is no law."
220. "Whoever creates similarity with any people — he is of them."
221. "Intention (niyyat) is the determinant of action."
222. "Deceit is more important than medicine."
223. "Insistence on small sins is itself a great sin."
224. "Committing a sin makes it obligatory to seek forgiveness from it."
225. "A minor harm can be removed by a severe harm."
226. "No one is permitted to take anyone else's property for any worldly reason."
227. "Iqrār (acknowledgment) is a conclusive argument."
228. "The original claim of denial cannot render the other's claim void."
229. "In an argument a contradiction arises — that is, when one is established, the other's meaning becomes void, and the remaining argument ceases."
230. "The commander is appointed over the commanded. But the order is to proceed upon him — yet meddling beyond what is needed is wrong."
231. "Wild animals can be fully imprisoned in a cage — to give them a cage as a house will be more fitting."
232. "No person can transfer a right greater than what they themselves possess."
233. "In time, the later ruling takes precedence."
234. "Delay in justice results in injustice."
235. "No person can be compelled to do someone else's work."
236. "The benefit of a country is that complaints in it should be few."
237. "If one of two has the right, then after the first selection it will be a definitive choice."
238. "The foundation of injustice is built upon trial and probability."
239. "Military proceedings require support in the form of military provisions."
240. "Today power is the standard — and the strong have the right of law. And every act of the strong is permissible — and their defence of aggression is legitimate. The weak are given the living sustenance of survival — and one should not deal with weak people by taking crooked and frail words and bodies."
241. "No person can reach a verdict in their own case."
242. "During the hearing of a case no change of heart can be made."
243. "Benefactor, muḥsin al-ilayh (one who does good), wants a beneficiary — teacher wants a student — master wants a disciple — guide (murshid) wants a seeker — the Prophet ﷺ wants a community — God Most High wants His servants."
244. "It is best to make the discontented content — to appease them is far better."
245. "Bad character is the root of all evils."
246. "Evil next to good is its companion — because it helps one against it."
247. "Your bond: when you are thoroughly broken, you will suffer a small defeat in handling them."
248. "When real meaning (ḥaqīqī maʿnā) and conventional meaning (mutaʿāraf maʿnā) are in mutual conflict — conventional meaning is worth preferring. Real meaning is harder to establish in analogy — and one should be familiar with the real meaning or its close equivalent for taking real meaning."
249.
ہر ایک سے مل کر ایک ہو جا پانی سے سیکھے صفائی
آئینے کی طرح من پہ کہ دے بیچے ہرگز نہ کر برائی
Become one with everyone — learn purity from water. / Let the heart speak as a mirror — never in the least commit evil. (Ḥaḍrat Ṣiddīqī)
250. "Two hearts feed one badness and one bad intention — when both harden their hearts, they free mountains and scatter them."
251. "Tie the camel's leg and then trust in God (tawakkul)."
252. "Poverty is first in wealth — then one's own — after that regret. Reduce the low-priced — and abandon the bad-tempered."
253. "You will not obey women — if you do they will make your small children disobey you."
254. "The believer too is an offender."
255. "Travelling and poverty are of one form."
256. "The ʿāqil (rational person) has one grip closed — takes breath from the other's grip."
257. "Meat eaten raw is barely tasty."
258. "In darkness there is light — the lantern's door is lit by electricity. See: this is an example of preaching without action."
259. "Blood — better than water — that is, kinship proximity is better than strangers."
260. "Even the one who finds God must taste death."
261. "Self-sufficiency (istighnāʾ) is a particular attribute of God — māsiwā'llāh (all other than God) needs it."
262. "Whatever rests on anything, nothing keeps it in place."
263. "Whoever has a dagger in hand takes it without meaning to."
264. "Poverty is settling of heart — life is settling of the solution."
265. "Separation's cold rests on the spine."
266. "Truth will not be suppressed."
267. "Good brother or good friend — a brother or friend good as long as there is breath."
268. "Good speech — that which comes from the heart and soul."
269. "A rotten sort destroys with the destruction."
270. "The dirham reaches the final — the dīnār reaches the final — the fire."
271. "A snake has no kin — it does not matter."
272. "Satan has gained something near to eternal life. Such was the arrogance of his life — a rose in one's sight remains for a single day — the scent of the rose, the spirit of the rose, the pleasure of its sight, the company of beloved ones — to smell the rose's fragrance — he left the garden to pluck the flower and the garden's scent departed."
273. "The rose by fully blossoming gives its own news of death."
274. "A child is born breaking apart — it grows with hardship and calamity."
275. "Four days of moonlight, a few years of youth."
276. "Sleep, be lost, sleep again — awaken."
277. "Each era is one measure — in this era no one's foot runs."
278. "Pigeon-like — the hand too is in pigeon-like form. Each one has its rule — every one's rule governs — every one's rule cuts away the ribs. The pigeon departs — the image will be preserved — the image will be set right — if one does not exercise caution, several lifetimes."
279. "Imagination is the Creator of meanings."
280. "If I drown, the whole world drowns."
281. "Obstinacy cannot make anyone a believer."
282. "O tongue, be silent — otherwise God was my all."
283. "At the time of misfortune, even good friends become enemies."
284. "What use is a spreading cloth of friends?"
285. "Sometimes a diminished household also fights — that is, sometimes between husband and wife, gratitude too becomes part of quarrelling."
286. "For friends, burn away the thorns — but do not sow seeds of enemies' intrigues."
287. "Someone's will shall persist."
288. "The discontented of others are displeased — to God the discontented are a pleasure."
289. "Great destruction or great lamentation (matam) — these ten works taken in one — are useless. The profession (mashghala) through its medium — and without profession through the medium, people are blood-suckers."
290.
ترک عادت میں اپنی ⁂ مغنی عرقی عادت
Abandoning one's own habit — [versus] the well-worn habit of the ghannī (the wealthy).
291. "For eating, if one has one miser (means), two are needed for frugality."
292. "Zakāt and kharāj break down the capitalist system."
293. "God's voice is not in an uproar."
294. "If the enemy is strong, the guard of the nation is strong."
295. "Al-Takhyīr fi'l-mawqiʿ — 'The choice is at the right moment.'"
296. "The meanings of ʿaqliyyāt (rational matters) are in the meanings of the words — the words' meanings are meanings."
297. "Absolutely, the Qurʾān's particularisation of ḥadīth cannot be made by others — the Qurʾān's particularisation can also be made by ḥadīth."
298. "The repetition of a thing for a time is not necessarily from the time itself — the time will come as it comes, and with it also will come the appropriate actions."
299. "Recitation is great — within it a great recitation; its inside is great."
300. "Before the face of the small lies the truth, dying."
301. "Lies have no feet."
302. "My good times are two — first with everything, then understand again."
303. "Do not say my bad thing — listen to my bad thing."
304. "Far from the drum — nearby."
305. "First look — then act."
306. "The first ride is difficult."
307. "The horse knows the whip-wielding rider."
308. "The answer to a brick is a stone."
309. "Even a powerful foot-soldier cannot be stopped by cavalry."
310. "If you want to grow pearls, then dive into the sea — even a small one will be found."
311. "In one's own life — also a sword."
312. "Silver gives no work — it gives; it goes and gives work."
313. "Water is mercy — if it becomes excessive it is a flood and torment."
314. "Bread is soft and white but inside hard and black."
315. "Without evidence, a claim is like an open hand."
316. "He who dies — the Resurrection has already come for him."
317. "All will flee — how will God be fled from?"
318. "For the one who will not accept, there is no remedy."
319. "Even a large household keeps order and decorum."
320. "The key of prosperity is patience (ṣabr)."
321. "When a debtor's death comes, he becomes pleased with the creditor."
322. "Their coming — their skirt has been bound to ours."
323. "What should one do — will your stomach not double up otherwise?"
324. "They are bowing at the time of the Resurrection — servants remain absorbed."
325. "The magician (is) he who turns the head around."