In the Name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy

After a hiatus in posting, I decided that for now, as I do not have much time, I’ll focus on writing smaller posts, posting links, etc, until I am once again able to write at length about a particular topic, insha’Allah.

When someone praises you, you must feel dislike for his praises within your heart. If he has praised you for something you truly possess say: ‘Praise belongs to God Who has revealed the good things and concealed the ugly ones.’ And if he praises you for something which you do not possess, say as one of our predecessors has said: ‘O God! Do not call me to account for what they say, forgive me what they do not know, and make me better than they think!’

From The Book of Assistance by Imam Al-Haddad

The du’a at the end is from ‘Ali, may God be pleased with him. The Arabic and its transliteration are:

اللهم لا تؤاخذني بما يقولون واغفرلي ما لا يعلمون و اجعلني خيرا مما يظنون

Allahuma laa tu’akhidhnee bimaa yaqooloon wa igfirlee maa laa ya’lamoon wa aj’alnee khayran mimmaa yaDHunnoon.

Ibn Ata’illah al-Iskandari, may God have mercy on him, also said with regards to this:

People praise you for what they imagine you are, so be sure that you blame yourself for what you know you are.

And he also said:

Incompetent is the one who leaves certainty one has for conjecture others have [i.e. with regards to oneself].

And only God Most High knows best.

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