The Nafs

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Imam Ghazali (ra) writes, "Strangely enough, you punish your servants and your children when they do anything wrong and you say to yourself, "If I do not punish them, they will become disobedient and rebellious". But you do not care for your 'self' and never fear that it is growing rebellious. Don't you know that rebelliousness in others is not going to do you as much harm as rebelliousness of your own nafs.

For, if others are rebellious, they can do harm to your worldly interest alone, but your own rebellious nature is doing harm to your life in the Akhirah, which is eternal and the bounties thereof endure permanently.

What a heavy loss it would be, if you did harm to your Akhirah? 

Our forefathers were aware of this fact, and therefore, if anyone of them missed an opportunity to do a good deed for his eternal life, he would be very anxious to make up for it.

Wasalaam!