[14] قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ص‏ الْمُؤْمِنُ بَيْنَ خَوْفَيْنِ...

[14] قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ص‏ الْمُؤْمِنُ بَيْنَ خَوْفَيْنِ خَوْفِ مَا مَضَى وَ خَوْفِ مَا بَقِيَ وَ بِمَوْتِ النَّفْسِ يَكُونُ حَيَاةُ الْقَلْبِ وَ بِحَيَاةِ الْقَلْبِ الْبُلُوغُ إِلَى الِاسْتِقَامَةِ The Prophet -saww said: ‘The Momin is between the two fears – a fear of what is past and fear of what remains, and with the death of the self would be life of the heart, and with the life of the heart he will reach to the straightness.

وَ مَنْ عَبَدَ اللَّهَ عَلَى مِيزَانِ الْخَوْفِ وَ الرَّجَاءِ لَا يَضِلُّ وَ يَصِلُ إِلَى مَأْمُولِهِ وَ كَيْفَ لَا يَخَافُ الْعَبْدُ وَ هُوَ غَيْرُ عَالِمٍ بِمَا تُخْتَمُ صَحِيفَتُهُ وَ لَا لَهُ عَمَلٌ يَتَوَسَّلُ بِهِ اسْتِحْقَاقاً وَ لَا قُدْرَةَ لَهُ عَلَى شَيْ‏ءٍ وَ لَا مَفَرَّ And the one who worships Allah -azwj upon the scale of fear and hope will not stray, and he will reach to his hopes; and how can the servant not fear, and he is not a knower of what his register (of deeds) will end with, and there could be no deeds for him he can make a means with to be deserving with, nor any power for him upon anything nor any escape.

وَ كَيْفَ لَا يَرْجُو وَ هُوَ يَعْرِفُ نَفْسَهُ بِالْعَجْزِ وَ هُوَ غَرِيقٌ فِي بَحْرِ آلَاءِ اللَّهِ وَ نَعْمَائِهِ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا تُحْصَى وَ لَا تُعَدُّ And how can he not hope, and he knows himself with the inabilities, and he is drowning in a sea of Favours of Allah -azwj and His -azwj bounties from whereby he can neither count nor number? فَالْمُحِبُّ يَعْبُدُ رَبَّهُ عَلَى الرَّجَاءِ بِمُشَاهَدَةِ أَحْوَالِهِ بِعَيْنِ سَهَرٍ وَ الزَّاهِدُ يَعْبُدُ عَلَى الْخَوْفِ.

The loving one will worship his Lord -azwj upon the hope with witnessing his situations with a watchful eye, while the ascetic will worship based upon the fear’’. قَالَ أُوَيْسٌ لِهَرِمِ بْنِ حَيَّانَ‏ قَدْ عَمِلَ النَّاسُ عَلَى رَجَاءٍ فَقَالَ بَلْ نَعْمَلُ عَلَى الْخَوْفِ وَ الْخَوْفُ خَوْفَانِ ثَابِتٌ وَ عَارِضٌ فَالثَّابِتُ مِنَ الْخَوْفِ يُورِثُ الرَّجَا وَ الْعَارِضُ مِنْهُ يُورِثُ خَوْفاً ثَابِتاً Oweys said to Hiram Bin Hayyan, ‘The people are working based upon hope’.

He said, ‘But we are working based upon the fear; and the fear are two (types of) fears – a constant and occasional. The constant from the fear inherits the hope, and the occasional from it inherits constant fear. وَ الرَّجَاءُ رَجَاءَانِ عَاكِفٌ وَ بَادٍ فَالْعَاكِفُ مِنْهُ يُقَوِّي نِسْبَةَ الْعَبْدِ وَ الْبَادِي مِنْهُ يُصَحِّحُ أَمَلَ الْعَجْزِ وَ التَّقْصِيرِ وَ الْحَيَاءِ. And the hope are two (types of) hopes – permanent and temporary.