Heart & Soul
The Purification of the Soul
According to the earliest sources, compiled from the works of Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya and Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, collected and arranged by Ahmad Farid. One the most concise references that can have a big impact on you once you read it. Topics gone into detail include symptoms of the heart's sickness and signs of its health, doing without the pleasures of this world, perseverance, complete reliance on Allah, the life of this world, to mention only a few. Excellent read!!
The Humility in Prayer
Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali This is a treatise we have written concerning humility (Khushu') and the hearts meekness and breaking (inkisar) before the Lord. The basic meaning of Khushu', is the softness of the heart, its being gentle, still, submissive, broken, and yearning. When the heart is humble, so too is the hearing, seeing, heard, and face; indeed all the limbs and their actions are humbled, even speech. This is why the Prophet (saw) would say in his bowing (ruku), "My hearing, sight, bones, and marrow are humbled to You," another narration has, "and whatever my foot carries." One of the Salaf saw a man fidgeting in his prayer and remarked, 'If the heart of this person was humble, so too would his limbs be.' The source of the Khushu, that takes place in the heart is the gnosis of Allah's greatness, magnificence, and perfection. Teh more gnosis a person has of Allah, the more Khushu' he has. The greatest action of worship which manifests the Khushu, of the body to Allah is the prayer (Salaah). Allah has praised those who have Khushu' in the prayer.
Patience and Gratitude
Imam Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyah
This is an abridged translation of Uddat as-Sabrin wa dhakhirat ash-shakrin by Ibn Qayyim. The author explains the Islamic concept of sabr (patience) and its counter part shakr (gratitude), in a practical fashion.
Expecting the Best from Allah
By Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi. “In accordance with how good your expectations of and hope in Allah are and how truthful your reliance and trust are in Him, Allah will not betray your hopes in the least, as He does not betray the hopes of those who hope and does not cause any effort to go to waste.”
Diseases of the Hearts & Their Cures
By Shaykhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah. Actions are distinguished, one from the other, with respect to their excellence in the Sight of Allaah in accordance with the condition of the heart, not by their number or form, but rather due to the strength of the caller, his truthfulness, his sincerity and the extent to which he prefer Allaah over himself… Al-Haafidh ibn Hajr al-Asqalaanee, may Allaah have mercy upon him and provide us with his knowledge, said: “The heart has been singled out for this because it is the leader of the body, and through the purification of the leader the subjects become purified, and with his corruption they become corrupted. So if you, Observant of Allaah, wish to cure your hear then it is upon you to be truthful with regards to seeking refuge with Allaah and putting your trust in Him, to pray a great deal of supererogatory prayers, to perform the actions of obedience to Allaah frequently, to pray the night prayer while the people are sleeping, and to treat your heart by making it continuously stick to the remembrances and by befriending only the righteous… and to frequently recite the Qur’aan. And Allaah will indeed allow all of this to be preserved by him.” Taken from the Compiler’s Foreword