Nahj Al Balagha Sermon 89

" o' creatures of Allah, weigh yourself before you are weighed and assess yourself before you are assessed. Breath before suffocation of the throat. Be submissive before you are harshly driven. Know that if one does not help himself in acting as his own adviser and warner then no one else can (effectively) be his adviser or warner" sermon 89, Nahj Al Balagha.

Above is a part of the 89th sermon in Nahj Al balagha and I feel its a clear indication of being safe is always better than being sorry, knowing yourself and repenting for sins is what is more important than ignoring them. It is better to assess everything one does at least at night before they go to bed and analyze their moves and everything that they had done in those 24 hrs and praise the lord for his bounties and ask for forgiveness for all the sins one has committed, surely just thinking of what happened and how one reacted will make everything clear to them about themselves leading to a life of self actualization and clear vision of what is important what is desired and what is actually worth achieving.

Clearly there is nothing more important than the pleasure of Allah...

Two very important questions one could use to keep track of what they're doing is to ask one self "would Imam Ali do this?" and "am I doing this with the niyyat of qurbatinn il Allah (pleasure of Allah)?"

These two questions I believe are very important to live a satisfactory life and realizing ones sins being just and clear visioned about what is here on this earth is merely temporary is a vital point to be realized and remembered and preached.

Lastly what is mentioned in the above sermon about taking the first step to helping oneself, is something of great courage and responsibility than just cribbing over even the smallest of issues. It is that we realize that when there is a problem understanding it and finding a solution is the key to getting rid of it not crying over it and telling a zillion more people about it and who can help us more than Allah who is all understanding, all giving, all powerful, all knowing. He knows whats deep in our heart and more and in respect to that the first person to seek for forgiveness and ask fer comfort should be Allah and faith in his glory is all that is needed for happiness and pleasure in not only this life but also the life after death.

Syeda Fatima,18

(syeda715@hotmail.com)