Al-Ghazali — Lettre à Shihab al-Islam (II)

May Allah bestow His mercy upon you and enable you to surrender yourself in every thing so that you may be His instrument. When it is a blessing, His worshipers devoted themselves to thanksgiving , and when it is a calamity they either show patience or try to cultivate patience and alliance with Allah endeavoring to earn His pleasure, so that their lives may become harmonious to His Planning Will. There are two kinds of achievements. One is the virtue of truth, and the other falsehood. Whosoever raises himself upon Him attains truth whilst the other, who values worldly objects more than Him, achieves nothing but falsehood. Allah says in the Holy Koran: "So remember Me, I will remember you. Give thanks to Me and do not be ungrateful towards Me." Koran, Chapter 2 verse 152, and, "When you see them, you see bliss, and a great Kingdom." Koran, Chapter 76 verse 20 but He also warns: "To whosoever blinds himself from the Remembrance of the Merciful, We shall give him satan as his companion." Koran, Chapter 43 verse 36 Those who prefer the friendship of others to that of the Almighty Allah are mentioned in the following verses: "As for the unbelievers, their works are like a mirage in the wilderness. The thirsty person thinks it is water, but when he comes near he finds that it is nothing. He finds Allah there, who pays him his account in full. Allah is Swift in reckoning." Koran, Chapter 24 verse 39 As this world is a means for reaching the next, a wise and enlightened person does not make the means and end in itself. Whosoever sells this world for the next stands condemned. The Caliph, Omar bin Abdul Aziz was a practical moralist. Even before he was elected caliph, he would say when a piece of very expensive cloth was brought to him: "Alas, it is too coarse for me to wear".…