Murid’s Log: Moulay Abd as-Salam ibn Mashish

The Shadhili Tariqa is built on the foundations of Shukr and Mahabba, gratitude to Allah, and love for him. Moulay Abd as-Salam ibn Mashish summed up the way of the Tariqa that his greatest student was to found in his famous advice to the brethren:

“Seek four things after four things:

Love for Allah,

Satisfaction with the Decree of Allah,

Indifference of the heart towards worldly things, and

Reliance on Allah.

Attain these four, after these four:

Performing Allah’s commands,

Avoiding Allah’s prohibitions,

Patience and fortitude from everything that does not concern one, and

Abandoning everything that distracts and diverts one.”

Were this admonition the only piece of knowledge we had of the Sheikh, it would be enough to prove the truth of his immense understanding, and his lofty status before Allah.

via Murid’s Log: Moulay Abd as-Salam ibn Mashish.

Quote: rare and unusual positions of scholars

al-Awza`i said: “Whoever holds on to the rare and unusual positions of the scholars has left Islam.”

see also: http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?id=5072

Quote: Tears of weeping

“It is better to weep tears of joy than to joy at tears of weeping”

Quote: four things do not come back

“Four things come not back — the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity” – Arab proverb

Thinking computers

The question of whether computers can think is like the question of whether submarines can swim
Edsger W. Dijkstra

via:
http://jjinux.blogspot.com/2008/11/ai-thankful-for-bad-ai.html

Watch your thoughts

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
Frank Outlaw

via:
http://ahmed2004uk.blogspot.com/2008/09/watch-your-thoughts.html