Increase in knowledge and good works November 21, 2008

Festive Friday: Increase in knowledge and good works

You should not neglect your time or use it haphazardly; on the contrary you should bring yourself to account, structure your litanies and other practices during each day and night, and assign to each period a fixed and specific function. This is how to bring out the spiritual blessing (baraka) in each period.

But if you leave yourself adrift, aimlessly wandering as cattle do, not knowing how to occupy yourself at every moment, your time will be lost. It is nothing other than your life, and your life is the capital that you make use of to reach perpetual felicity in the proximity of God the Exalted.

Each of your breaths is a priceless jewel, since each of them is irreplaceable and, once gone, can never be retrieved. Do not be like that deceived fools who are joyous because each day their wealth increases while their life shortens.

What good is an increase in wealth when life grows ever shorter? Therefore be joyous only for an increase in knowledge or in good works, for they are your two companions who will accompany you in your grave when your family, wealth, children and friends stay behind.

Imam Al-Ghazali in The Beginning of Guidance (Bidaya al Hidaya)

I have posted a first part discussion about this a few months back. Here, I present the whole text of the piece of advice I read in one blogger’s blog. The words of Imam Al-Ghazali.

I learned so much, and changed so much of my ways because of this 4 paragraphs of advice. Therefore, I wish to share the advice here on my Festive Friday entry and may it help and benefited more people like how it did me.

I especially like the last part -‘Therefore be joyous only for an increase in knowledge or in good works’

Notice the usage of word ‘joyous’? Yes! Be joyous, be happy and festive knowing that we have increased our knowledge. Any forms of knowledge at all for indeed – there is so much to learn and so much to know!. And also, be joyous of your good work. For it’s all your good honest works that brings prosperity and opportunity to all humankind.

Ahh, isn’t it just the most wonderful piece of advice ever?

Copyright © Naziehah 2008

Things that I searched and read about today September 25, 2008

After watching one documentary about ancient library in Alexandria in one of the series of Ancient Egypt, I searched for Cleopatra and that turns into a surfing spree of hermeticism, Sabians, which leads to searches about Al-Ghazali and I found this. I think this is the documentary that they showed a few months ago in KL. And that I missed

I don’t know much about Imam Al-Ghazali. Which is a shame. I should take this opportunity in Ramadhan to learn more about him.

Favourite Advice from Imam Al-Ghazali (1 of 4) May 15, 2008

You should not neglect your time or use it haphazardly; on the contrary you should bring yourself to account, structure your litanies and other practices during each day and night, and assign to each period a fixed and specific function. This is how to bring out the spiritual blessing (baraka) in each period.

Imam Al-Ghazali in The Beginning of Guidance (Bidaya al Hidaya)

 

I can’t remember where I found these 4 paragraphs of advice. It might be from Nik Nazmi’s blog. If it is, thank you YB!. If it’s not, thank you too to anybody who shared such wonderful advice with me.

 

I found it in one of my folder. I keep all very good advice/sayings in a folder in my laptop and come back to it from time to time. These are one of the advices that I found very much true and beneficial.

 

Ever since I read this piece of advice, I will do my best to assign my time accordingly. Time management and organisation skills were something that I need to work on. Praise to Almighty, after reading this piece of advice, I am even more motivated to structure my time and life optimally.

 

This is a very good advice in many aspects. In terms of productivity, of course, you will get more things done if you set a goals and work towards it systematically.

 

What I really like though, it also helps people to be more aware of themselves and their surroundings. Most people move in autopilot, going with the flow without being too conscious of what they are doing and where they are going. By assigning each time to a task, it will help guide people in becoming more conscious of their day-to-day activities.