Know that if the self knows that you are serious it will also be serious and hardworking, if it knows that you are lazy it will become your master.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 97
Be mindful of Allah and he will protect you. Be mindful of Allah and you will find him before you. Know him while in property, he will know you in distress.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 79
Some people are so resolute in their struggle against themselves that they consider their selves as their enemy in opposing it and so they are not able to see its flaws.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 89
Know that discipline of the self is achieved through lenience and moving from one state to another. This should not be done violently but rather leniently, and then he should combine both hope and fear.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 96
Know that thinking is needed to remember what was forgotten and to think about future benefits. However thinking about that which is not fruitful will be harmful, and if it is excessive it will exhaust the body.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 67
He who reads biographies, stories of the righteous predecessors will find that most of the jurisprudent and scholars are from the slaves, the weak, or those with low craftsmanship, but as their striving was high, they succeeded.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 94
Know that envy causes insomnia, malnutrition, paleness, mood swings, and continuous depression.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 44
Whoever is mindful of Allah while in good health, Allah will protect him when he is ill, and whoever observes Allah in his thoughts, Allah will protect him when he moves his bodily parts.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 79
Know that a doctor considers the age of the patient, his place, and time and then he prescribes the medicine. Likewise, discipline should be suited to each child, and the signs of the success or failure of a child can be noticed from a very early stage. A clever child is inspired by learning and the unintelligent is not availed by learning.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 100
The signs of a flawless person are: being upright and disciplined by the capacity of Allah from an early age, a faculty for wise, resolute opinions, decisions, and an expansive mind while still young.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 109
The best discipline is that which is done at a young age.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 99
It is preferred to try and remove the traces of any ugly deed from the heart. The cure of spitefulness is forgiveness and remission.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 49
The excellence of a thing is known by its fruits, and from among the fruits of the mind is knowing the creator, may He be Exalted.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 21
Expenditure should be less than earnings so that one can set aside wealth for any misfortune that might occur.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 41
Honest reflection is both very powerful and insightful.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 91
Persistence in discipline is a significant principle, particularly regarding children as it benefits them in that good becomes a habit to them.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 99
The earnings of a wise person should be more than what he needs, and he should keep some savings aside to recompense for his loss lest a misfortune occurs.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 41
A person should rather think about that which is possible for him to achieve, and what he can achieve from a good deed.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 6
If he who envies others cannot attain what the one he envies has attained, then he should struggle to prevent his tongue from slandering or criticizing him and to restrain what is in his heart.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 47
A person should also know that Allah can make it easier if He Will, and that what is after death is more disturbing than death itself because death is a bridge that takes us to our eternal dwelling. However one should frequently think about death to work towards it, not just for the sake of imagination.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul,p 77
A person’s love for himself prevents him from viewing his hidden flaws as flaws.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 89
Whoever knows Allah truly, will make all his deeds sincere to him.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 62
A person who loves leadership and authority should know that he will think leadership is great until he attains it. If he attains it, it becomes poor and he will seek what is higher than it. For the enjoyment disappears [after it is achieved]. The sins remain [after they are committed], as well as risking oneself and religion.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 35
This world is a bridge and a bridge should not be taken as a home.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 34
Anger is a place in the nature of human beings to keep harm away from him and so that he can take revenge from the one who harms him. However, what is disliked is excessive anger, as it disturbs one’s soundness, makes one imbalanced and immoderate, such a person starts to make wrong decisions which may even affect the one who is angry more than the person he is angry at.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 51
A person who is angry at another should not punish him while he is angry, that is if he deserves to be punished at all. He should rather wait until he calms down so that his punishment is equal to the offense not equal to his anger.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 55
A father should know that his child is a trust placed in his hands, so he should make him avoid bad company from a young age. He should teach him the good, for a child’s heart is empty and accepts anything that is given to it. He also should make him love shyness and generosity… He should tell him the stories of the righteous, make him avoid love poetry because it is a seed of corruption, he should not prevent him from reading poems about generosity or courageousness, so that he exalts these characteristics and become courageous. If he makes a mistake he should overlook it. His teacher should expose his secrets and mistakes, he should not reprehend him except in private. He should prohibit excessive eating, excessive sleeping… He should be treated with physical exercises…If he chooses to exhibit a bad characteristic, he should be deterred from it excessively before it becomes a habit, and it is fine to discipline him if lenience is of no use. Luqman told his son “O son! Disciplining the son acts as nourishment for sowing seeds”. If the boy is aggressive, his father should be lenient with him. Wise people used to say “Your son is like your flower the first seven years, and your servant for the second seven years. By the time he reaches fourteen, if you have been good to him then he will be your partner, and if you were bad to him then he will be your enemy”. A child should not be beaten or offended after he reaches puberty, because then he will hope to lose his father so that he may have his way.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 100
Whoever thinks deeply about people of high striving will know that they are no different from himself, when it comes to what they are created from, them being human beings. However the love of laziness, relaxation has wounded and chained him. So they have walked away while he stood still. If he had moved the foot of determination, he would have reached what they reach.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 92
A person will be able to benefit from his enemy in a way that he cannot benefit from his friends, and that is because an enemy mention’s one’s flaws but a friend hides them.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 90
A generous man is free because he owns his money while a stingy man does not deserve to be called free because his money owns him.
Ibn al Jawzi, Disciplining the soul, p 38
