Just me and Him.

My favorite form of psychotherapy is reflecting on a small piece (yet so effective) by Ibn 'Ata'llah. I wonder why I find this chunk so appealing. Is it because it has helped me place my location in this universe; or because its made me realize that ‘Someone Else’ other than myself is Looking Out for me. Is it because it has helped me to Understand some of God’s Attributes and reflect on some of my own?

I’ve yet to figure out why I love this piece so much, but I do know, so far whoever has read this piece (irrespective of religious beliefs or the lack thereof) has agreed there’s something about Mr. Atallah words –- as they seem to stir the deepest, darkest, parts of the subconscious.

The Hikam Of Ibn 'Ata'llah I

The Hikam of Ibn 'Ata'llah II

sample:
Actions are merely propped-up shapes.
Their life-breath is the presence of the secret of sincerity in them.
[...]
The branches of abasement only grow from the seeds of greed.
Nothing leads you on like illusion.
You are free when you despair of it.
You are a slave when you are eager for it.
Whoever does not advance to Allah by the tenderness of His goodness
is chained to Him by the fetters of trial.
[...]
He made the Next World the place where He will reward His believing slaves
because this world is not vast enough to hold what He wants to give them
and because He thinks too much of them to reward them
in a dimension which lacks any permanence.