I said to my Self,

“A Muslim hero’s hand was severed in battle and left dangling by a thin piece of flesh. This hampered him from continuing to fight, so he put the fingers of his dangling hand under his foot and stepped on it, freeing his body from the weight of his severed hand.

Are you–O Self!–then able to trample on the hand of attachment to other than Allah Most High in order to cast it aside? Or on some money in order to snatch it away, that a poor person is better entitled to and whose greed is holding you back from Allah Most High? Or on a lustful gaze in order to tear it away, which is clouding your heart, keeping the lights of intimacy from being imprinted in its mirror, and preventing the seeds of reverential awe and watchfulness from sprouting in its field? Or on that look of self-admiration in order to wrest it away, which is poisoned with arrogance, veiling the self from its true state of indigence and need and making it heedless of the innumerable gifts that it has been given?”

My Self moved its head, and it was as if it realized the need for it to step on all difficulties that kept it from traveling to Allah Most High, and it promised to cast aside everything that slowed its steps on that journey.

[Translated from the Arabic original by Shaykh `Abdul Karim Tattan. Shaykh `Abdul Karim Tattan is one of the hidden jewels of the UAE, worth more than all the wealth that is pouring into that region today, may Allah preserve him and benefit the Muslims through his knowledge and wisdom. His website is a treasure of knowledge for those who understand Arabic, especially his downloadable audio lessons.]