Notes from Sheikh Ibn Ata’illah’s (d.709h) Hikam with its commentaries by Ibn Ajeebah and al-Shurnubi with anecdotes from Imam Qushayri’s Risalah
Worldly Provisions are decreed by Divine will previous to the suffering of the human race. This is why human entreaty is not the reason for Divine provision. Man’s supplication is therefore the manifestation of his servitude, poverty, and humility to his Lord. Sheikh Abu al-Hassan al-Shadhili al-Maghribi is recorded to have said, ‘The concern of your supplication should not be success in the fulfillment of your need, since this may leave you unanswered; rather, your purpose should be a humble call to your lord’.
How can your supplication entail Allah’s pre-eternal bestowal? The Divine order is exalted and way above the alliance of causes. Allah’s intention is absolute, where there is no room for qualification, and his will is prevalent where none rescinds His command.
Allah’s favor in you is not because of your supplication, it is because He wanted to favor you before your existence. Do you not ponder? Where were you when His favor embraced you and His shelter embosomed you in pre-eternity? There were no sincere acts, nor were there the states of the hearts at that time!? Yet there was none but purely His Grace and a Great measure of Benevolence for you. Hence, there is no consideration for anything but His decree, so await His kindness.
There are people whose etiquette sometimes leads them to pay no heed to their question whilst solely relying on His distribution and busying themselves in His remembrance. For them, etiquette is to busy themselves in His remembrance rather than their own. Allah says about such people, ‘I shall give the best of what I give to those who ask, to whoever busied himself with my remembrance over his quest’. They know Allah is the knower of the hearts and is the best planner. For the one who remembers Allah, invoking unites his dispersed heart and pervades his will and his broken resolve. This station is indicated in this verse, ‘and those who strive in our cause-We will certainly guide them to our paths’ (29:69). For others, to bring about the supplication to the tongue is to exhibit one’s absolute slavehood and neediness in front of his Lord. Allah says, ‘Call on your Lord with humility and in private’ (7:55). The former make no complaints about their state, knowing that it is not concealed to Him. For the latter, the early stage of their supplication is to mediate to their lord by means of their need of Him ‘faqr ilayhi’. It is then they realise that the Divine Entity is limitless and their need of Him is limited, thus it is merely impossible for them to intercede by their need. The Salik’s station is to mediate through his poverty, and the Arif’s station is to supplicate without this mediation or to stay silent.
For many, supplication is a means of relieving emotional frustration and stress. Upon commencing the supplication, one wants to pour out his/her concern and hurriedly awaits a response. This is not the spirit of supplication. Of course, supplication is a means of relieving one’s tensions, but some inward etiquettes have to be maintained therein.