THE SIXTY-NINTH DISCOURSE On the commandment to ask Allah for forgiveness, protection from sin, help toward success, contentment and patience

Do not ask of God, the Mighty, the Glorious, anything other than the forgiveness of past sins and protection from sins in the present and the future, and the power of goodly obedience; and to perform commandments and to abstain from prohibited things, and to be pleased with the bitterness of the decree of Providence and to be patient in the face of the severities of calamities; and to be thankful for the abundance of comforts and gifts, and lastly, to die a goodly death and be united with the prophets and siddiqs and shahids and virtuous men who are a goodly band of companions. Do not ask of Him things like the removal of poverty and calamity and the advent of affluence and ease, but ask instead leisure with what He has allotted and provided, and ask of Him perpetual protection in what He has placed you in the midst of and landed you in and involved you in, up to the time that He transfers you from that state to another and to one that is the opposite of it, because you do not know in which lies good — poverty or affluence, in calamity or in ease. He has kept the knowledge of things hidden from you and He is alone in His knowledge of the good and the evil of things. There is a tradition handed down by Hazrat Umar bin al-Khattab in which he is reported to have said: "It matters little to me in what condition I see the morning of the day — whether it brings to me what I dislike, or it brings what I love, because I do not know in which of them lies good." He said so on account of his perfect pleasure with the management of God and his satisfaction with His choice and decree. God says: Fighting is enjoined on you, though it is disliked by you; and it may be that you dislike a thing while it is good for you, and it may that you love a thing while it is evil for you (2:216). God knows what is good and what is bad and you do not know it. And continue in this till your desire vanishes and your self is broken, humbled and overpowered and brought into subjection; then your purpose vanishes as also your wishes and all existence go out from your heart and nothing remains in it save God. Then is your heart filled with the love of God and your motive for attaining Him becomes sincere. After this, your purpose is returned to you by His command together with your desire to have some enjoyments of this world and of the hereafter; and then you will ask these things of God and seek them in obedience to His command and as a course of harmony with Him. If He makes a gift to you, you will be thankful for it and will appropriate the same, and if He withholds from you anything you will not be annoyed on that account and will experience no change in your mind and will not find fault with Him on that score, because you have not been seeking it from your desire and your purpose since your heart is free from these things, and you have not entertained any wish for these things but only followed the commandment of God through your petition to Him. Peace be on you.