The 3 conditions ofa successful servant of Allah- Ibn Qayyim

Three conditions aretokens of the servant's happiness [ sa'adat al-abd
] , and the signs of his success in this world and the next. No
servant is without them, but is always shifting from one to the other.
These are: 1. When blessed, give thanks (Shukr); 2. when tried with
difficulties/trials, persevere (Sabr); and 3. when sinful, seek
forgiveness (Tawba).
1. Shukr for blessings:
The first condition is the blessings which come to the servant from
God (Most High), one after another. What secures them is gratitude [
shukr ], based on three supports: (a) inward recognition of the
blessing; (b) outward mention and thanks for it; (c) and its use in a
way that pleases the One to whom it truly belongs and who truly
bestows it. Acting thus, the servant shows his gratitude for the
blessing—however brief.
2. Sabr in trials:
The second is the trials from God (MostHigh) which test the Servant,
whose duty therein is patience [ sabr ] and forbearance: (a) to
restrain himself fromanger with what is decreed; (b) to restrain his
tongue from complaint; (c) to restrain his limbs from offences, such
as striking one's facein grief, rending one's clothes, tearing one's
hair and like acts. Patience, then, rests on these three supports ,
and if the servant maintains them as he should, affliction will become
benefaction,trial will change to bounty and what he disliked will
become what he loves . For God (Exalted and Sublime) does not try the
servant in order to destroy him. Rather, He tries him to put his
patience and devotion [ al-ubudiyya ] to the test. For the servant
owes devotion to God in affliction as in ease. He must have as much
devotion in what he hates as in what he loves. And while most people
offer devotion in what they love, it is important to do so in the
things they hate. It is by this thatservants' ranks are distinguished
and their stations determined.
Ablution with cold water in searing heat is devotion. Sexual relations
withone's beautiful and beloved spouse is devotion. Spending money for
her, for one's children and for oneself is devotion. It is devotion no
less than ablution with cold water in the bitter cold; giving upvice
to which one's soul is driven without fear of people; and giving
charity in hardship. But there is a great difference between the [two
kinds] of devotion.
He who is God's servant in both states, maintaining his duty in both
comfort and adversity , is the one to whom His words refer, 'Is not
God sufficient for His servant?' With complete devotion comes complete
sufficiency, and withless comes what is less. Let him who discerns
some good give praise to God, but let whoever finds something other
than this blame no one but himself.
These are the servants over whom God's Foe has no control. God said
[to the Devil], ' Lo! As for My servants, you have no power over
them." And when HisFoe Iblis learned thatHe would not let His devoted
servants yield to him or give him control over them, he proclaimed,
'Then byYour Might, I will surely beguile them all save for Your
sincere servants among them. And God (Most High) said,' And Iblis
found his calculation true, for they [all] followed him save a group
of true believers. And he had no warrant whatsoever over [any of] them
save that We might know the ones who believe in the hereafter from
thosewho doubt it. ' God will not yield to His Foe control over His
faithful servants. They are in His protection and His care. If the
Devil robsany of them, as the thief robs the heedless man, this cannot
be avoided, because by heedlessness, passion and anger is the servant
tried. It is by these same three doors that the Devil comes to him.
Try as he may to protect himself, the servant is bound to be heedless
and given to passion andanger.
3.Tawba after sinning:
Adam, the father of all humanity, was the most discerning of
creatures, their superior in wisdom, and the most steadfast. Yet the
Foekept after him until he made him fall into that which he fell. What
then of someone with the reason of a moth, whose intelligence compared
to that of his father [Adam] is like a spittle in the ocean? Still,
the Foe of God obtains nothing from a faithful person except by
robbing him in [a moment oninattention and carelessness. And when he
causes him to fall, the servant may think that he can never again
facehis Lord, that this fallhas carried him away and destroyed him.
Yet behind it all is God's grace, mercy, clemency andforgiveness.
For if God intends what is good for His servant, He will then open for
him the doors of repentance [ al-tawba ] and remorse, abasement and
humility, dependence and need; the doors of the request for God'shelp
and protection; the doors of perpetual humility, supplication and the
approach towards Him by means of whatever good works he can manage—so
that his wrong may become a means to God's mercy. For the Foe says,
'Alas, I left him without causing himto fall!'
This is what one of the early believers [ salaf ] meant when he said,
'A person may commit a sin by which he goes to heaven and a good deed
by which he goes to hell.' 'How?' someone asked. He replied, 'Having
committed the sin, he is ever watchful in fear, regretful, timorous,
lamenting,shamed before his Lord, his head in his hands and his heart
rent. The sin that brings him all that we have mentioned, wherein lie
his happiness and salvation, is more beneficial to him than numerous
devotional acts. Indeed, it becomes the means by which he enters
Heaven.
[On the other hand], he may perform a goodly deed and constantly laud
it before his Lord, wax proud, boast, become vain and haughty with it,
as he says, 'I did this, I did that.' His self-importance, pride and
arroganceprovide him only with the means to his own ruin. If God
intends then what is good for this miserable person, Hewill try him
through something that breaks [his pride], abases him and reduces his
self-importance. But if He intends otherwise, He will leave him to his
self-importance and pride, and this misfortune is what leads to his
ruin.'

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