The Two Indispensable Graces of God [Hikam 97 & 98]

"And if you attempted to count all the favours of Allah, you will not be able to innumerate them..." (Surah Nahl) From all the limitless bounties Allah has decended upon His creation, the Shaykh discusses two graces that are inevitable and inseparable for every creature; the grace of existence and the grace of sustenance. Muslim religious life not only consists of belief in orthodox tenets of faith and a determined effort to follow the Sacred Law, it also requires one to scale the heights of the spiritual path. In this series we will study the book 'The Kitab al-Hikam' of Shaykh Ibn ‘Ata’illah al-Iskandari. It is the inspiring explanation of the soul’s journey through this life, as determined through the Qur’an and Sunna. Along with his treatises and intimate discourses (munajat), the substantive feature of the work is the author’s 264 spiritual aphorisms (hikam)­—concise, comprehensive and sublime sayings on self purification (tazkiya), and guidelines to help strengthen the relationship between humans and their Lord. These aphorisms, which have never failed to inspire.