| Excerpts From Kashf al Mahjub The Oldest Treatise on Persian Sufism |
| On Repentance (pages 294-299) |
| Repentance (tawbat) is the first station of pilgrims on the way to the Truth, just as purification (taharat) is the first step of those who desire to serve God. God hath said, |
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| Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) hath said, �He who repents of sin is even as one who has no sin� and then added, �When God loves a man, sin shall not hurt him.�
Etymologically tawbat means �return�, and �tawbat� really involves the turning back from what God has forbidden through fear of what He has commanded. Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) has said, �Penitence is the act of returning� (al-nadam al tawbat). Three things are involved in tawbat, namely: |
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| Repentance (tawbat) has its origin in the stern prohibitions of God and in the heart�s being aroused from the slumber of heedlessness. When a man regards his conduct evil and abominable deeds he seeks deliverance there from, and God makes it easy for him to repent and leads him back to the sweetness of obedience.
Junayd says, �Repentance consists in forgetting the sin. They argue that the penitent is a lover of God, and the lover of God is in contemplation of God, and in contemplation of God it is wrong to remember sin, for remembrance of sin is a veil between God and those who contemplate Him. Junayd has explained, �I�ve read many books, but I have never found anything so instructive as this verse:- |
| The contrition (naddamat) may be due to three causes: |
| � Remorse for disobedience
� Immediate abandonment of sin, and � Determination not to sin again |
| �When I say: �What is my sin?� She says in reply:
�Thy existence is a sin with which no other sin can be compared.� |
| Repentance is of three kinds: |
| Dhu `l Nun the Egyptian has said, �Ordinary men repent of their sins, but the elect repent of their heedlessness.�. The ordinary men shall be questioned concerning their outward behavior, and the elect shall be questioned concerning the real nature of their conduct.
Abu Hafs Haddad has said, �Man has no part in repentance, because repentance is from God to man, not from man to God.� It is not acquired by man but is one of Divine gifts. Abu `l Hassan Bushanji says, �When you feel no delight in remembrance of a sin that is repentance. |
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| Trans. R.A. Nicholson |
| Ali b. Uthman Al Hujwary |
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| �O believers, repent unto God with a sincere repentance�
(Qur�an: 66:8) |
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| � Fear of Divine chastisement and sorrow from evil actions (being ta�ib)
� Desire of Divine favor and certainty that it cannot be obtained by evil conduct and disobedience (being munib) � Shame before God (awwab) |
| Tawbat has three stations |
| � Tawbat - Fear of Divine punishment� station of mass believers implies repentance from great sins (kabirat)
� Inabat - Desire of Divine reward�. Station of saints and favorites of God (awliya u muqarraban) � Awbat � For the sake of keeping God�s command�. Station of prophets and Apostles |
| � From what is wrong to what is right�. Belonging to common people
� From what is right to what is more right�.belonging to the elect � From selfhood to God�.belongs to the degree of Divine Love |
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