What a Bad Servant We Are!

Al-Hasan al-Basri

What a bad servant of the Lord is he! I am speaking of a servant who fits the following description:

1. He asks for forgiveness (maghfirah), while he is actively engaged in sinful disobedience (ma'siya).
2. He behaves in a humbly submissive manner, so that he may be credited with loyalty (amana), but he is only pretending, to hide his disloyalty (khiyanah).
3. He forbids what is wrong, but does not refrain from it himself.
4. He enjoins what is right, but does not act upon his own instructions.
5. If he gives, he does so very stingily, and if he withholds, he offers no apology.
6. If he is in the best of health, he feels secure, but if he falls sick, he becomes remorseful.
7. If he is impoverished, he feels sad, and if he gets rich, he is subject to temptation.
8. He hopes for salvation, but does not act accordingly.
9. He is afraid of punishment, but takes no precautions against it.
10. He wishes to receive more benefit, but he does not give thanks [for what he has received].
11. He likes the idea of spiritual reward, but he does not practice patience; and
12. He expedites sleep and postpones fasting.

Source: Ghunyat at-Talibin of Shaykh 'Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani rahimahullah