The Quintessense of the Intellect and Its Meaning

Taken from Muslim Matters

And there is no substitute for a servant in reflecting, and contemplating, and remembering, so that his reflections may increase, and his knowledge be augmented, and his status be raised. For he who decreases his contemplation decreases as well in reflection, and he whose reflection is decreased also decreases his knowledge, and whoever’s knowledge decreases, only increases his ignorance. Of what use is the knowledge of one who has only studied knowledge with his tongue, and memorized its words with his heart, but avoided reflecting, contemplating, and thinking about its meanings and extracting its benefits? How close is such a one to an animal that is only able to recognize what it feels with its limbs!

Rather, the real one who contemplates ishe who ponders over what he hears, and reflects upon what he knows, and understands what he has been commanded to do. This is the one who can differentiate between what is beneficial for him and what is harmful for him, and such is the one who has the power to withstand his own nature that strives to make him do that which will harm him. He can resist his own desires that try to overcome him, for he is aware of the net result of his actions, and what will happen in the future ahead. He fears his Lord, and prefers the pleasure of his ʿaql over the pleasure of his desires. For indeed, the pleasure of the wise scholars is in their intellects, and the pleasure of the ignoramuses and beasts is in their desires.

And what happiness can equal the happiness of knowledge, and the spirit of certainty, and the brilliance of noesis, all of which can only be attained and affirmed through sound reasoning, and long thinking, and continuative reflecting.

Thus, through all of this, he attains knowledge of God, and exposes himself to His protection, and raising his ranks with Him, expending a little of this world in order to attain the real rewards [of the Hereafter], for indeed He is the Ever-Generous Lord. Whoever seeks Him finds Him, whoever asks Him for self-sufficiency is granted it, whoever fears Him achieves His protection, and whoever strives to come close to Him is swiftly responded to. He calls out to you if you turn your back to Him, and He accepts you if you return to Him; He praises and commends you for your share that He has given you, and He encourages you to contemplate for yourself. And He only causes you to be sick in order that He cure you – if you but understand! – and He impoverishes you in order to enrich you. He withholds from you in order to give you, for He withholds that which is meager and temporary so that you are content, in order that He may give you that which is plentiful and permanent. He causes you to die only to resurrect you back to life, and He gives you the medicine of sickness so that you may be cured from the effects of sins. He inflicts you with suffering so that He may wash away the filth of your mistakes, and He throws upon you troubles so that your heart may soften in order to achieve success.

He gave you His blessings before you even asked, and then followed it up with more after you had forgotten to thank Him. He continued to shower His munificence (iḥsān) upon you despite your continual neglect of Him. So how else will you recognize His iḥsān, and realize your own shortcomings, and see the way to your success, except by using your intellect (ʿaql) to reflect over what He has said, and by pondering and struggling with yourself so that you may recognize what pleases Him, and avoid what displeases Him and takes you away from Him?

For indeed, He has blessed you with the innate quality (gharīzah) of intelligence (ʿaql), and given you the gift of knowledge, and tested you with what is in your nature – of anger, and content, and miserliness – with silence. For silence is a foreign language, and the one who practices it is like one who is dumb: no one understands him except for his companion. As for speech, it is clear and explanatory: the one who hears it understands it. And indeed, the Prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, has commanded the one who has no good to say to remain silent, for he said, “Whoever believes in God and the Last Day – let him say what is good, or else remain silent!” And there is no way to explain and clarify all blessings except with speech. Thus ends the ‘Quintessence of the Intellect and Its Meaning’, of al-Ḥārith b. Asad al-Muḥasibī – praise be to God as He is worthy of, and may peace and salutations be upon our master Muḥammad and his family.